Putting Old Demons To Rest
by storywriter84
Summary: Alex Karev's life has been crap. With the help of his younger sister, the two of them work on putting old demons to rest and moving on with life. Rated for Safety. I know Christmas has passed, but still. . . Not nearly as Angsty as I think it should be!
1. Chapter 1

_It's time to start a new story. I'm hoping for a long one, here, but I'm not sure. This kind of delves in Alex's life and his past. I introduce a new character or two in this one. The first one you meet is Gwendolyn. Review so I know what you think. It'll help to shape the story as I go. I usually like to keep a few chapters ahead of what's posted, but I'm just going with the flow on this one._

_Obviously, I have nothing to do with Grey's Anatomy and this is all for fun. . .yada, yada, yada. The site isn't called for nothing, you know._

_Prologue_

Alex Karev sighed. It had been a long day and he was ready to go home, even though his shift didn't end until the next morning. Rebecca (Ava) had gone home to her husband once more and Lexie had plans with Meredith and Cristina (go figure!) tonight. It was almost Christmas and Izzie had big plans for a Christmas dinner she couldn't cook. Walter, Joe's boyfriend, offered to help her since Burke was gone. To make matters worse, she had already invited Dr. Shepard, Dr. Sloan, and the Chief. And they were all actually coming for dinner.

Alex Karev sighed again.

He looked up from the chart he was reading and nearly chocked on the water he was drinking. No way! No _freaking_ way was this happening now. A smile broke out on his face.

"Alex," a young woman said, stepping forward as she realized he saw her. Alex looked up and down the hall. No one was paying any attention to the two of them. And why should they? Karev was nearly low man on the totem pole and no one knew _her_. He dropped the chart on the counter, rushed forward and took her by her elbow, and then ran off to find an empty room. "Alex, what. . .?" 

"Shh," he hushed her, finally finding a room where they could talk. "I'm on call tonight," he said, shutting the door, "so we're okay until my pager goes off."

"That important are you," the woman asked, smirking. Alex knew that smirk and he smiled wider. He hadn't realized how much he truly missed her until he saw her again. She seemed taller since he had last seen her, two weeks before he started at Seattle Grace. She had offered to come out with him but he had told her to stay put. "That writing is taking off," the woman said, jumping into conversation. "The first two books are on the bestseller's list. The money's coming in, Alex, so I decided to finally start looking for your graduation present."

Alex frowned. "Gwendolyn, I was only joking, I. . ."

"No," she shushed him, "I told you I would do it and I will. Actually, I have."

"You have?" Alex couldn't believe his ears. He almost didn't want to.

"Yes," she said, "I have. I found him, Alex. I found Dad."

_Chapter One_

Alex took his sister, Gwendolyn, to the hallway lined with gurneys that he and his friends used to frequent, and ran off to answer a page. When he looked back, she had pulled a book out of her bag and was reading, leaning back against the wall. Taking a deep breath, he ran into the patient's room who had coded blue while he had been downstairs. After two shocks to the heart, the patient's breathing and heart rate were normal. He sighed in relief; Hahn wasn't going to hand him his ass. He was just back from his two week suspension from sneaking Rebecca into the gallery and he didn't want to screw this up.

After checking up on the two other patients on his watch for the night, he went back to find his sister. She was right where she left him except she had company. Alex winced as his sister laughed. The nerve of that guy to flirt with his sister. . . "Dr. Sloan," Alex said, "can I help you with something?"

"Your sister is delightful, Karev," Mark Sloan said, turning to face Alex. "You should have had her visit earlier."

"I didn't ask her here," Alex found himself saying. His sister narrowed her eyes at him. He blinked. And sighed. "Is there something I can help you with, Dr. Sloan?" 

"Yes," Sloan said, jumping from the gurney, "since I found you I need you to prep the patient in 3289. I have the time to do the procedure now."

"What kind of surgeon are you," Gwendolyn asked.

"Plastic," came Sloan's response. Alex watched his sister's eyebrow rise in suspicion before shrugging and picking up her book to continue reading. Alex would have laughed if he wasn't about to scrub in on a plastics procedure. Sure, he had a higher interest in Neo-Natal but the Chief had yet to replace Addison Montgomery. There were other surgeons he could work under, but none of Addison's caliber. "Yeah, well, get to it, Dr. Karev and I'll meet you in OR 3." With a nod, Sloan was gone.

"Well, he was . . . charming," Gwendolyn said, putting her book back down.

"I don't think he expected you to turn him down," Alex said, hopping up on the gurney to sit by his sister.

"Well, he didn't exactly ask, Alex," she said, "not that I would have done anything. I have a boyfriend."

"Oh, another imaginary boyfriend," Alex teased, "what's his name this time."

"He's _not_ imaginary," Gwendolyn protested, "and his name is Nikkos Rowan."

"_The_ Nikkos Rowan," Alex asked, slightly shocked, "as in Cardiothoracic surgeon from Chicago?"

"The very one," she confirmed, "he thought you would have heard of him."

"Who hasn't," Alex muttered. "Is he here, too, Gwennie?"

"No," she said, smiling at the use of her old nickname. No one had called her Gwennie since Alex moved to Seattle. "He's still in Chicago," she said, "he made it as far as the airport before the hospital called and asked him to come back. There was something about a basketball player with a leaky valve or something. He'll come next time."

"Next time," Alex questioned, "why would he do that?"

"Well, until two days ago we didn't know where Dad was," she explained, "Mom's a mess, and well, I really only have you as far as family goes. We never wanted anything to do with the rest of our relatives. Nikkos wants to meet my family and that's you." She bit her bottom lip. "He wanted to be there when we go see Dad, but I was planning on losing him and going just to the two of us." Alex nodded. He wouldn't bring any of his friends to see his Dad either.

"So why does Rowan want to meet your family," he asked and then amended, "me."

"Nikkos' family is very Greek. They aren't My-Big-Fat-Greek-Wedding-Greek, but Greek nonetheless. He has a big family, all in Chicago, and they're great. I can go to family function when he's running late and be completely at ease. It's nice. Anyway, I think he wants to propose. I think he wants to ask you for permission."

"Why? Isn't it your decision? I don't care who you marry," Alex said.

"Yes, you do," she scolded. "And it's proper," she continued, "not so much anymore. It's old fashioned, I suppose. Kind of romantic, don't you think?"

Izzie would think that was romantic, he thought. "You want him to ask me for permission," Alex voiced, slightly confused.

"Well, he wants to, so I'm okay with it," she said, "you just make sure you tell him yes. He'll want to get to know you and everything first. _Let him_. Just let him and he'll ask when he's ready. Go prep your patient." She slipped her book into her purse and slid off the gurney. "I'm going to head back to the hotel. Call me when you're shift is over so we can decide when we're going to see Dad."

"Do you really want to," he asked, "go see him, I mean." She shrugged, turning to face her brother as she shouldered her bag. "I know what I said, Gwennie, but that doesn't mean. . ."

"You wouldn't let me buy you anything, Alex," she said, stopping him. "You graduated from _Medical School_. Do you know what a big deal that is for people from our background? Most of the people we lived near or went to school with are either in jail for drugs or pregnant and already have four kids. We were lowest of the low with our deadbeat, drinking father and our mother who was overly indifferent. You're a _doctor_ and I'm a published author. How cool are we?"

"What does that have to do with Dad," Alex asked, still chuckling.

"It's time to put old demons to rest so we can go on with our lives," she said.

"You're putting yourself down again," he said.

"How so?"

"You keep talking about how it's such a big deal that I graduated from Med School. I went to Iowa State on a wrestling scholarship. You're the one who got a free ride because of your grades. That's freaking amazing seeing as Dad was constantly yelling and . . . stuff."

Gwennie nodded. "Yeah, we're pretty amazing. Anyway, I promised Nikkos that I would call when I landed but I wanted to see you first. Call me when you're shift is over and we'll make plans."

"Speaking of plans," Alex said as his sister walked away, "what are you doing for Christmas?"

"Christmas," she asked, turning around at the doorway.

"Yeah, Christmas," he said, "you know that big holiday that's about a week from now?"

"I don't know," she said. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I work Christmas Eve," he said, "but my friend Izzie is having this crazy Christmas dinner thing. You should come. You know, if you aren't busy or anything."

"Yeah," she said, "I think about it. Call me." He nodded and she was gone. Alex jumped off the gurney and ran to room 3289 to prep his patient before Sloan changed his mind.

It was seven o'clock. His shift was over and he wanted nothing more than to crash and sleep for about 24 hours. He was changing into his street clothes when Izzie, Meredith, and Cristina walked in.

"Evil Spawn," Cristina said, opening her locker.

"Crack Whore," Alex greeted. Izzie shook her head. "What," he asked.

"You two are insane," she said, changing into her scrubs.

"You love it and you know it," Alex said, putting his shirt on. "Later," he said, grabbing his bag and leaving. He didn't have time for chitchat this morning. He retrieved his cell phone from his pocket and sent a text to his sister: _Where R U?_

The answer came back as he got into his car. _Archfield – 2222_. Alex sighed. Did everything stay at the freaking Archfield? There must not be another hotel in all of Seattle. Shaking his head, he started his car and headed across town. His sister was on her cell phone when he knocked on the door. She opened the door and moved back to let him come in.

The room was immaculate, even with all of her stuff she brought. He knew all of her clothes would be hung up or put away in drawers. He bet if he went into the bathroom all of her girly stuff would be lined up on the counter. He sat down on a couch and waited for her to get off the phone.

"Yes, Nikkos, I'll call as soon as we're done talking to him," she said, rolling her eyes at her brother. "I don't know what I'm going to say to him. Probably something along the lines of 'suck it, old man, you suck.' I know that isn't nice," she said as Alex started laughing as the scene played out in his head, "but it's the best I can come up with. I will _not_ be nice. Not even for you. If you knew. . . yeah, alright. Is that your pager? I'm sure it's important. Go. Love you, too, bye." She closed her phone and looked at her brother who was still trying to catch his breath from laughing. "Liked that one, did you?"

"If we do go," he said, gasping for air, "I hope you tell him that."

"You don't want to go," Gwennie asked, concerned.

"I don't know," he said, regaining his composure and sitting up. "It's been so long since he split," he said, "I don't know if it's a good idea to drudge up the past like that." Gwennie smiled at him; it was a small, sad smile that broke his heart. "But if you really want to go, I guess it can't hurt."

"You never could tell me no," she said, grabbing a folder from the bag that rested on the bed and then plopped down beside Alex. "Nikkos helped me track him down," she said, "I don't know how he ended up in Washington of all place, but he's in a treatment facility in Portland. Here's the medical file they sent. You want something to drink?"

"A beer if you got one," he said, flipping the folder open.

"It's like eight in the morning," she said, disapprovingly.

"Yeah, and I've been up all night," he told her, "so technically it's like dinner time." She rolled her eyes, shook her head, and grabbed a beer and a bottle of water.

"Sometimes I just don't know about you, Alex."

He laughed and started reading the file.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter Two_

Gwennie had fallen asleep first, while Alex was reading through the file. Alex soon followed her into sleep, the exhaustion from his 36 hour shift finally hitting him.

_Alex sat at his desk in his room, trying to ignore his parents yelling – again. As long as they stayed downstairs and left Gwennie alone, Alex didn't care much. They two of them never let anyone come to the house, always preferring to go somewhere else to hang out. Most of their friends knew what was going on and didn't mind when either of them stayed over. _

_He winced as he heard glass breaking, probably the lamp in the living room. His father never actually hit any of them, which was good, but he tended to yell and break things an awful lot. His dad wasn't home most of the time anyway, usually off playing music in one bar or another. His dad was a good musician, he played the guitar like no one he had ever seen, and Alex had been in plenty of bars with musicians. When his dad was being a "good" drunk, he would tell anyone who would listen about his son the wrestler and his daughter who played in the school band and wrote stories. _

_The crash of broken glass sounded again and Alex took off to the hallway just to survey the damage. His sister lay in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. His mother lay on the couch, moaning. Broken glass was spewed all over the place among used needles and white powder. Alex rushed down the stairs, checking on his sister when he reached the bottom. She was breathing, there was blood coming from her head. She wasn't awake or anything, but she was breathing – she was alive. He glared at his father as he stood up. The man was so drunk, he didn't even realize Alex was there. His mother moaned again – she was awake, she was alive. He took a deep breath._

"_What did you do," he asked._

"_Shut up, boy," his father said, taking another swig of beer, "it's no more than they deserve. Stay out of it."_

"_You _hit_ them," Alex said, narrowing his eyes, "you _hit_ them!"_

"_Yeah," he said. "We're out of beer, I'll be back."_

"_No."_

"_What did you say," his father said, facing him. Without thinking, Alex launched himself at his father and using his well learned wrestling moves, pinned him to the floor. _

"_Get out of here," Alex said angrily in his ear as he pushed him harder into the floor. "Get out of here and don't come back. I don't want to see you again. You do come back here and I'll do worse than pinning you to the floor." He stood up and watched his father slowly get up. He grabbed his wallet and his keys from the stand by the door and left – he didn't even bother to look back._

"_Mom, are you okay," he asked, going over to her._

"_I'm fine," she said, brushing him off, "I'm going to take a nap." Alex rolled his eyes and went over to his sister._

"_Gwennie," he said, "are you alright? Can you hear me?"_

_Her eyes fluttered open. "Is he gone," she asked, weakly. Alex nodded. "He was hitting Mom and I just acted. I should have gotten you. I should have. . ."_

"_Stop it," he said, when she started crying, "he's not coming back. Mom went to bed. Let's go."_

"_Go where, Alex," she said, "I don't want to go anywhere. No one can see me like this."_

"_John Ortega's aunt in an ER nurse," he said, "we'll go to his house and call her."_

"_But. . ."_

"_No," he said, "now." He helped her up and they left. When they got back that night, they saw their Mom in her bedroom watching television. They spent the rest of the night cleaning up the living room and the kitchen. It was nearly time for school when the finished._

"_I don't want to go, Alex," Gwennie said when her told her to get ready for school, "can't we take one day off? It's not like Mom will care and it's just _one_ day."_

"_Fine," he said, "let's get some sleep." Alex waited in her room until she fell asleep before going to his own room. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow_.

Alex woke up to the sound of breaking glass.

"Gwennie?"

"Over here," she said.

Alex looked around, trying to remember where he was. Archfield, he remembered, Gwennie was in town. "Gwennie?"

"In the kitchen," she yelled, "I dropped a glass. Don't worry." He picked himself up off the couch and walked into the kitchenette. The clock on the stove shone bright neon green with the numbers – 4:00PM. He had easily slept for four hours. "Hey," she said, seeing him. "I can order room service or I can make something. I went to get groceries while you were sleeping. I figured whatever I didn't use you could take home."

"I don't know," he said, "whatever." Gwennie scowled at him as she poured out two glasses of orange juice. "So I read the file before I fell asleep."

"Yeah. And?"

"He's terminal, as far as the cancer goes," he explained. "I suppose if we want to do this then we better do it fast."

"Is he that bad," she asked, sitting down beside him. He nodded. She bit her bottom lip and stared at the table. "Do you still want to go?"

"I don't know, Gwennie," he said, standing up. He went to the other side of the kitchenette and leaned against the counter, facing her. "Sometimes I like to think it was all a bad dream," he told her, "that it happened to someone else. That man never loved us. He was our father, not our dad. Hell, as far as I'm concerned, we're orphans. It's pretty much just been you and me since you were born. No, I take that back. Mom at least potty trained you before becoming indifferent to you."

"I wonder why they even had kids," she said aloud. Alex shrugged. As much as he hated his parents, he was glad he was born. Oh, and Gwennie, too, it would have been harder growing up without her. "I'm not going by myself, Alex, with him being terminal or not. I won't make you go," she said, "but. . ."

"But you want to anyway," he said, "so I'll have to go. I wouldn't let you go alone, Gwen. I'll be honest, though, I don't think we should bother. We haven't had anything to do with him in ten years. Even if . . . what happened hadn't happened, do you really think we would have stayed in touch after we left there?"

"You did."

"Huh?"

"After you left home, to go to college," she said, staring at him, "you stayed in touch with people from home. Friends and stuff."

"That was mostly for you," he said, "someone had to make sure you were okay." She rolled her eyes at him and then shook her head. "Look, it's real simple. Yes. Or. No."

"It isn't that simple," she said, laughing lightly. "It's never _that_ simple." Gwen rested her chin on her hand and closed her eyes. "I think I want to go," she said, her eyes still closed. "Nikkos and I will eventually get married, have kids, and do all of that domestic stuff. I don't want to have the thought of my father haunting me forever."

"Demons," Alex nodded, although his sister couldn't see him.

"Demons," she echoed. She opened her eyes. "What do you want to do?"

"I want to be better then he is."

"You already are," his sister smiled.

"Yeah, whatever," he said. "Wanna see where I live?"

An hour later, Alex pulled into the driveway. They had stopped to pick up some food. He didn't know why, but he felt a compulsion to introduce his friends and his sister. "Anyone here," he called out, dropping a bag of groceries on the counter. "Hello?"

"What is it, Alex," a tall, blonde woman exasperated, a phone jammed against her ear. "I'm on the phone."

"Oh," Alex said, blinking, "it can wait, Izzie." The blonde woman shook her head and walked out of the kitchen. "Um, that was Izzie. Oh, um, Izzie Stevens. She's a surgeon, like me."

"Are you sure _she's_ a surgeon," Gwen asked.

Alex nodded. "She gets that a lot, actually."

"And you live together," Gwen asked. "Well, that makes sense. Neither of you probably get to spend a lot of time at home."

"O'Malley is shacking up here, too," Alex told her, "and Meredith Grey. It's her house. Oh, and Yang is staying here, I think. We're all Residents, except O'Malley." Gwen nodded. "So, yeah, let me show you around."

"Alex," she said, grabbing his arm, "don't be nervous. You suggested this. We don't have to. . ."

"Yeah, we do," he said, "I want to. These people, as odd as it may sound, have become like a family – like a family for me, maybe us. We have to do better than our parents did. They didn't keep in contact with their siblings or anything. We're trying to be better, so we're here and you'll meet everyone."

"Okay," she said. "You'll have to come to Chicago and meet everyone, though."

"Alright," he said, leading her out to the living room.

"Uh, hi, Alex," a woman with dirty blonde hair said.

"Hey, Mer," Alex said. "My sister, Gwennie, is in town," he said. "Gwen, this is Meredith Grey. This is her house. Mer, this is Gwendolyn Karev."

"Gwen is fine," his sister said, holding her hand out for Meredith to shake.

"Hi," Meredith smiled. "This is my, uh, my. . .Derek," the woman finished lamely.

"Derek Shepard," the man beside Meredith said, standing up and holding out his hand, "Head of Neurosurgery at Seattle Grace."

Gwen smiled. "Nikkos has mentioned you, actually," she said, "you were in on the conjoined adult twins separation."

Derek Shepard smiled. "Yes, indeed I was. When you say Nikkos," he said, "you mean . . .?" 

"Nikkos Rowan," Gwen smiled. "I see my boyfriend is going to make me very popular around here," she said, when Derek Shepard smiled in recognition, "what a pity he couldn't make it. He's ego could have definitely used a boost." Meredith started laughing. Gwen directed her smile towards her.

"So, I don't think that Karev has ever mentioned a sister," Derek said. "Where's he been hiding you?"

"Chicago," Gwen said, "with Nikkos."

"I haven't been. . ."

"Calm down, Alex," Gwen said, "I'm sure that Dr. Shepard was only joking. Right, Doctor?"

"Of course," Derek said, smiling charmingly at her.

"Derek," Meredith exclaimed, hitting his leg from her seat on the couch.

"What," he asked, sitting back down.

"Do not McDreamy Alex's sister," she exclaimed.

"McDreamy," Gwen questioned.

"I'll explain later," he said. "Anyway, this is the living room. There's a Den like place through that door. Over here is the dining room. There are bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom." Gwen giggled. "What?"

"You're quite the tour guide," she said, sitting down on a chair, "you should think about changing professions."

"Yeah, sure," Alex said, sitting down in another chair.

"So, Gwen," Derek said, striking up conversation, "how long are you in town?"

"I'm not sure," she answered. "Alex has invited me for Christmas. I hope that's alright. I'm not sure if Nikkos will make it out or not, I haven't mentioned it to him yet."

"Why not," Meredith asked, curiously.

"He was paged to surgery."

The three surgeons nodded, understandingly. "Where are you staying," Derek asked.

"The Archfield," Gwen said. "It's a very nice hotel."

"That's pricey," Meredith said. "Mark's staying there, isn't he?" Derek nodded.

"Yes, well, like I said, Nikkos was planning on coming with me. He made the reservations. I would have been happy just about anywhere, but Nikkos definitely has that 'deserves the best' attitude."

"So, are you just here for the Christmas holiday," Meredith asked, "or . . .?"

Gwen smiled. "I just missed my brother," she said, not wanting to mention the pending trip to see their terminally ill father.

"Alright, George is picking up pizza," Izzie said, walking into the living room, "and Cristina is on her way home. Oh, hi, Dr. Shepard. Are you two. . ."

"Yes," Meredith said, "we are."

Gwen raised her eyebrows at her brother. "Meredith and Shepard are very on again off again. At the moment, they're on again."

"This is it," Meredith insisted, "we're in it for good." Alex rolled his eyes and laughed good naturally.

"So, how does one end up dating one of the top Cardiothoracic surgeons in the United States? If you don't mind me asking," Derek asked.

"Not at all. I was working at a hotel while I was going to college," Gwen said. "Nikkos came to pick up a colleague from out of town. We got to talking and made plans to meet up later at the restaurant off the lobby. The rest, as they say, is history. We've been together for two years now. It feels like a lot more, but in a good way." She paused for a second, "So, if you don't mind me asking, how does one end up dating _the_ top Neurosurgeon in the United States?"

"I met her in a bar," Derek spoke up, when it was clear Meredith wasn't going to, "and I'm just too damn charming to resist."

"You keep telling yourself that, McDreamy," Izzie said. "And you are. . .?"

"Izzie," Meredith scolded, "she's our guest."

"Sorry," Izzie said, not sounding very sorry at all.

"Izzie, this is my sister, Gwendolyn Karev. Gwen, Izzie Stevens."

"Nice to meet you," Gwen said, not bothering to offer her hand to the other young surgeon.

"Yeah," Izzie said, a confused look upon her face. "Nice to meet you. I'll be upstairs."

The doorbell rang. "That's probably Lexie," Meredith said, jumping up, "I'll get it."

"Oh, are we being nice to your sister now," Derek questioned.

"Yeah," Meredith said, standing in the middle of the living room, "Thatcher. . .is being Thatcher and Molly is busy with the baby. . .she doesn't have anyone else."

"It's fine, Mer," Derek said, "I was just asking. Go answer the door." The doorbell rang again.

"Ava, what are you doing here," they heard Meredith ask. Alex paled.

A/N: I'm not that I actually like this chapter but I've been going over it and over it and can't figure anything out. Let me know what you think. I'm hoping to get into some heavy plot stuff soon. Thanks for reading. . .Megan.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter Three _

"Be right back," Alex said, jumping up.

"Who's Ava," Gwen said, turning to Derek.

"A former patient, I believe," Derek said, looking confused as Meredith walked back in. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure," Meredith said, sitting down beside him, "she's upset though. She's crying. George left the pizza in the kitchen. He went upstairs with Izzie."

Gwen's cell phone started playing "SexyBack." She smiled. "My boyfriend picked it out," she said, before flipping her phone open. "Hello?"

"Hello, darling, how's it going?"

"Nikkos! Everything seems to be going all right so far. How's the basketball player?"

"He'll be fine," Nikkos said. "Is your brother going with you to see your father?"

"Yes."

"Good," he said, "listen, I have some things to do for the Cardio Convention this year. The convention happens to be next month and in happens to be in Seattle. Seattle Grace to be exact." She could hear the smile in his voice although she couldn't see him. "So, I was thinking, if your brother was amenable to the idea, that we could have Christmas in Seattle and then I could get some work done afterwards."

"What a great idea," Gwen laughed, "I'm sure Alex would love to have us for Christmas."

"Ava, what are you doing here," Alex asked, dragging her into the laundry room. She smiled, even though tears continued to fall down her face. "Why are you crying?"

"He asked me for a divorce," she said. "He wants joint custody but he wants a divorce."

"And this is a good thing," Alex asked, not sure where this was going. She nodded. "How do you know where I live?"

"Dr. O'Malley remembered me," she said, taking a deep breath. "He gave me a ride. I went to the hospital, but you weren't there . . . and I . . . I needed to see you, to talk to you."

Alex sighed. The outside door in the kitchen opened and Alex saw Lexi walk in. Damn! What were they _both_ doing here? And his sister was here! How was he going to explain this? "Ava, just sit tight, right here," he said, "there's a rocking chair. Just . . . I'll be right back." He went into the kitchen. "Lexie," he said, shutting the door behind him, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see my sister, Dr. Karev," she said, glaring at him, "don't worry about me. I'm sure you're _patient_ will make you very happy."

"Alex," Gwen said, walking into the kitchen, "what's going on? We're in the living room make plans for Christmas."

Lexie looked at Gwen and then Alex. "I can't _believe_ you," she said, stomping her foot. "Meredith told me you were a decent guy," she said, "I can't believe she _lied_ to me."

"Alex is a decent guy," Gwen said, defensively, "who are you to say otherwise?" 

"Gwennie," Alex said, trying to get her to stay out of this.

"Shut it, Alex," Gwen said, stepping forward to get in the new girl's face. "No one gets to talk badly to or about him like that but me. I've been doing it for years and I'm not giving up that right."

"Years," Lexie asked, blinking. "Right? What kind of right?"

"That's my birthright," Gwen said, looking at Alex with concern. This girl seemed a little off and more than slightly confused.

"Gwen, you're phone's ringing," Derek yelled from the living room. "I'm bringing sexy back," he sang -- loudly. Gwen rolled her eyes and rushed back to the living room.

"She's right, though," Alex said, "she's the only one that really can call me names when I haven't really done anything wrong."

"She's your. . ."

"Sister," Alex supplied. "I have an idea." He took Lexie by the hand and led her into the laundry room. "Lexie," he said, releasing her hand, "this is Rebecca Pope. She calls herself Ava and so do the rest of us – most of the time. Ava, this is Lexie Grey. I believe the two of you have already met." They both nodded. "Now, I haven't promised either one of you anything. In fact, you both know about each other. So tell me, why are you both mad at _me_?"

"I'm not mad at you, Alex," Ava said, quickly. "How can I be? We weren't in a relationship. We were just. . ."

"I don't know why I'm mad," Lexie said, quietly, "I just know that I am."

Alex nodded. "I don't know what to tell you. Either of you, actually. I was waiting for Ava," he said, "and I told you that Lexie. And you're right, Ava, we weren't ever really defined. I'm at a loss as to what to do. Any suggestions?"

"I don't know if I'm looking for a relationship, Alex," Lexie shrugged. "We can talk later," she said, "I need to talk to Meredith." Lexie left.

"Well?"

Meredith and Gwen were sitting on the couch after Derek left to grab the pizza from the table. "So, tell me about Lexie," Gwen said. "Who is she?"

"She's my younger half-sister," Meredith explained. "We only met recently. It's very long story. I don't know much about her relationship with Alex, though. She likes him, I think."

"I think she thought I was here as Alex's girlfriend or something," Gwen mused.

"Really," Meredith said, looking at her. She shook her head. "You two look too much alike to pass that off."

Gwen shrugged. "Thanks, I guess." She fiddled with her phone, needing something to do with her hands. "Who's Ava? I mean, Derek told me a little bit, but he didn't know much about it."

"Yeah, Derek and I weren't getting along at that point," Meredith said. "Alex saved her from the bay. Did he tell you about the ferry crash a little while back?"

"No," Gwen said. "I saw it on the news of course," she told her, "but I wasn't aware Alex had been there."

Meredith nodded. "We went as a triage unit. Anyway, he pulled her off a fallen pier or something. When she regained consciousness, she thought he was her husband. Then they realized she didn't remember anything – not her name or anything. They spent a lot of time together, Alex and Ava. He's the one that named her Ava, actually. Didn't he tell you this?"

"Nope," Gwen said, leaning back into the couch. "I don't tell him everything either. We tend not to talk about our romantic entanglements as a rule. So does he like her? Does he like this Ava person? What about Lexie?" Meredith shrugged. Gwen rolled her eyes as Lexie walked in.

"There you are, Lexie," Meredith said, quickly. "What's going on?"

"Can we talk," Lexie asked, "upstairs?" She looked at Gwen. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize," she said.

Gwen shook her head. "No worries," she said, "just don't call my brother names." Her cell phone started playing music again. She flipped it open and smiled before letting her thumbs do the talking.

Meredith reached over and grabbed Lexie's arm. "Let's go upstairs," she whispered. Lexie nodded and they both ascended the stairs.

Derek walked back in from the den. "Where is everyone?"

"Lexie and Meredith went upstairs," Gwen said, her thumbs moving across the buttons of her phone rapidly, "Alex is in the kitchen. I think that Ava woman is with him. O'Malley and Stevens are upstairs. That's all I know."

Derek laughed. "That's more than I know," he said, sitting down beside her.

She typed into her phone for a little while longer, smiled, and pressed send. "What," she said, when she looked up to find Derek staring at her.

"How do you do it?"

"Do what," she asked, confused.

"I get the impression that you and your brother didn't have the best childhood," he said, carefully. "So, how do. . .I don't know, let's say maintain. . .how do you maintain a relationship with someone? I'll admit I don't know you very well or your relationship with Nikkos Rowan. I just want. . .I need to know. . .that you can do it. I can't. . ."

"You're talking about Meredith," she asked, putting her phone away. Derek nodded. "Alex has told me that the two of them are more alike then he would like to admit. We all have abandonment issues it some way. Even you, I'm sure. Alex and I were both essentially abandoned by our parents. I've always focused on the fact that Alex hadn't abandoned me. He still makes sure that I'm okay, even if it's just a phone call. I haven't needed him as much since I've started dating Nikkos, but every once in a while . . . well, everyone once in a while I need my brother and I'm okay with that." She smiled at him. "I can't really speak for or about Meredith, because I don't know, but Alex tends to focus on the bad. He focuses on the fact that our father took off and our mother didn't care. He focuses on the fact that we had to take care of ourselves, of each other, because no one else was really going to do it." She sighed. "Sometimes I think it's all in his head, if he would just let it go, he'd be so much happier. But, I think he's trying to protect himself. Our childhood was great until it wasn't. No, I take that back, we just didn't realize that what was happening in our house wasn't normal until later on."

Derek nodded.

"Just be there for her, Derek," she said, placing a comforting hand on his arm, "she'll come around." Derek smiled.

"Ahem," Alex said, walking in from the kitchen. Gwen smiled at her brother and removed her hand from Derek's arm. "So, what does everyone want to do for dinner?"

"We could order in," Derek suggested.

"We will not," Izzie said, coming down the stairs. "George and I are going to the grocery store. I'm making chicken tonight." With that, she left, dragging a very confused man behind her.

"Alright, chicken it is," Alex said, sitting down on a couch. Ava carefully sat down on a nearby chair. "What were you two talking about?"

"Nothing," Derek and Gwen said at the same time. Alex just glared at them for a little bit before Meredith and Lexie came down the stairs.

"Nikkos wanted to know if it would be okay for us to join you for Christmas," Gwen said as Meredith sat down beside Alex and Lexie sat on the other side of Derek.

"I already invited you, didn't I," he asked, looking slightly upset. "I don't care if he comes or not. Anyone have a problem with that?" Meredith and Derek both shook their heads no.

"To be fair, Alex, Nikkos didn't know you had already invited us," Gwen said, calmly, "and he has work in Seattle to do." She turned to Derek. "Do you know anything about a Cardio Convention?"

He nodded, explaining how it would work as Cristina Yang walked in. "Seriously," she asked. Derek nodded again. "That is going to be so fantastic. I can't wait to. . .uh, what are Jane Doe and some girl I don't know doing here? Hey, Lexie."

Gwen laughed. "Wow, Alex, you have some great friends," she said.

"Shut up," Alex mumbled, trying to hide his smile. At least they weren't trying to be overly nice, that would annoy him more. That's why he couldn't tell them about his Dad - it would be too much.

"_Ava_," Alex said, emphasizing her chosen name, "is here for a visit." Ava nodded. "And the girl you don't know is my sister – Gwennie."

"Gwen Karev," Gwen introduced herself.

"Cristina Yang," Cristina introduced herself. "How did we get onto the topic of the Cardio Convention."

"Gwen's boyfriend is coming into town to do some work for it," Derek explained. "I think he might be speaking."

"I got that impression," Gwen said, nodding, "yes." Cristina looked at her expectantly. Gwen looked over at Alex, who nodded. "Uh, yeah, my boyfriend is Nikkos Rowan," she said.

"No way," Cristina said, clearly excited, "no way. That's fantastic. I can't believe. . .Evil Spawn, you've been holding out on us."

Gwen looked at Cristina and glared. "Calm down, Crack Whore," her brother said, "before you have a brain aneurism." Gwen bit her bottom lip and didn't say anything. They were calling each other names, so she didn't mind.

"Evil Spawn, huh," Gwen asked, smiling, "that's about right."

A/N: Alright, so another chapter. I'm at a loss as to who Alex will end up with, so I'll let you guys decide. It won't happen for a while, either way, but whatever. . .just think about it. I'm actually leaning towards Lexie, but let me know what you think.


	4. Chapter 4

I must apologize. I was researching the other day how long it takes to get from Seattle to Portland for Alex and Gwen's roadtrip when I realized that Portland is in Oregon and not in Washington as I said it was in a previous chapter. That's my bad. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm surprised no one else pointed it out. Anyway, they are driving from Seattle, Washington to Portland, Oregon, which according to  is about 2 hours and 48 minutes away from each other. We're just going to go with three hours. Sorry again, if anyone was confused or anything.

Thanks for Reading.

_Chapter Four_

The dinner was nice. As long as they kept the topic of conversation away from his parents, Alex didn't mind that everyone was there – talking. His sister seemed to have a good time at least. She and Meredith were getting along well. Izzie was still acting weird, though, even after Gwen was introduced to her as his sister. He shook his head; some times, he just didn't understand the women in his life.

"You don't agree," Gwen questioned.

"What," Alex asked, not sure what was being talked about. Everyone started laughing. "What," he asked again.

"Nothing," Meredith said. Gwen smiled at him. The pizza wouldn't have fed them all, which is why Izzie had made chicken. Meredith looked around. She liked to have people in her house. "Cristina, I was thinking we could turn the Den into another bedroom," Mereidth said suddenly, "and there are one or two rooms upstairs that are full of my Mom's stuff we could clean up. George, you could have your own room."

He smiled.

"And then we would have a guest room for when Gwen and Nikkos came to visit," Meredith finished proudly.

"Bright and shiny," Derek said, smiling at his girlfriend.

She smiled back. "Bright and shiny," she agreed.

"Gag me," Cristina said.

Alex had switched with Izzie to get the day off, so he met his sister in front of her hotel and they went out to breakfast. They went out to breakfast to give them time to talk themselves back into going to see their dad.

"If you don't want to. . ." Gwen began.

"But you want to. . . ."

"Then we don't have to. . ."

"And you should be able to. . ." Alex continued.

"We can find another way, Alex."

"You want this, Gwen, quit telling me it's alright if we don't go."

They looked at each other and laughed. Everyone else in the restaurant probably thought they were nuts. The decision was Alex's – he knew that. Gwen had said the other day that she didn't want the idea of their father haunting her for the rest of her life. Truth be told, Alex didn't want their father haunting him either and decided that was a good enough reason all on its own.

They finished their breakfast and climbed into Alex's jeep. "Nikkos printed directions out from the hotel to the facility," Gwen said quietly. Alex nodded and took them from her, looking them over. He handed them back, turned the radio on, and put the vehicle in drive.

"On to Oregon," Alex said, pulling into traffic. It didn't take them long to get there and they were both wishing the trip had been longer because A) they were having a pretty good conversation catching up with each other and B) they had each talked themselves out of going to see their father. "We don't have to, you know," Alex said as they sat outside in the parking lot. "No one knows we came but you're boyfriend," he said. "We don't have to go in."

"We know," Gwen said. "We know, Alex. We're giving ourselves a chance here. We're giving ourselves a chance to say goodbye, a chance to move on. Have you ever felt like a pawn in someone else's game?"

"What?"

Gwen smiled. "Sometimes, thinking back on all of that crap, it's like it was preparing us for other things. Like we were a pawn in a chess game until we were needed. I don't know, maybe it doesn't make sense."

"No," he said, "it does. I just don't like it." Gwen shook her head. "Alright, if we're doing this, let's go."

They went inside and walked up to the receptionist's desk. The place was very . . . clean. It was very hospital like. The walls and ceiling were white. The tiles were a creamy white color. All the trim and the furniture was a dark oak, or at least it looked like dark oak. "Can you imagine Dad in a swanky place like this," Alex asked, leaning towards his sister. She shook her head, smiling. "Me neither," he whispered as they stopped in front of the desk.

"Hi," Alex said. He didn't feel right being here. He didn't feel like himself, either, he felt like he was seven years old all over again, before he stepped up to take care of everyone. "We are here to see Edward Karev," he said, quietly, "we understand he's being treated here."

The receptionist looked surprised, which didn't go unnoticed by either of the Karev kids. Their father had probably never had visitors. They hadn't known where he was at and no one who might want to talk to him probably knew either. But they had found him – well, Nikkos did, and Alex wasn't sure he should be thanking the guy yet – and they were so close to see him. It would most likely be the last time, the two of them thought, that they would see him. Alex certainly didn't have any plans to come back here again. He was a surgeon; he wouldn't have the time.

Looking flustered, the receptionist flipped through some paperwork. "Oh, okay, yes," she said, tripping over her words, "a Dr. Nikkos Rowan called ahead to say you were coming. Did he not make the trip with you?"

"My boyfriend was pulled into surgery as we were leaving the airport in Chicago," Gwen smiled. Alex raised his eyebrows at her. That was not her normal smile. "So, Daddy's here? We actually found him. This is a fantastic belated birthday gift, Alex, thank you so much," Gwen gushed, wrapping her arms around her brother in an unexpected hug. "You and Nikkos are too good to me."

Gushed? What the Hell was going on here?

Gwen stepped away from her brother. "Can we go see him now?"

"Let me call one of the nurse's to escort you," the receptionist smile.

"Just point us in the right direction, darling," Gwen said, "my brother is a surgeon at Seattle Grace hospital. We'll be fine."

Smiling again, the receptionist gave them directions. "What was that all about," Alex asked quietly as they passed, arms linked, through the double doors into the Residential Area.

"I took an acting class in college," Gwen whispered, "but it was more so she didn't give us any trouble. She said room 113, right? It's over here." They stood in front of the closed door, side by side. "What the hell are we doing here, Alex," Gwen whispered. "This isn't a good idea."

Alex grabbed onto her arms before she could take off. "We're talked ourselves in and out of this trip so many times already," Alex said to her quietly. "We're here now. We may never have this chance again. He might not be around to see. We might not always like him, but he's our father." Gwen nodded, not looking at him. "We're going to go in there and we're going to do this. We're putting old demons to rest, remember, Gwen? We're moving on." She nodded again. "Alright, let's do this."

He knocked on the door. And again. Looking at Gwen, he opened the door slowly. He jumped slightly when his sister grabbed his free hand. "Sorry," she whispered, when he looked back at her. The door swung open.

The man lying in the bed looked nothing like that remembered. Ten years can really change a person, it would seem, the three of them being prime examples. Edward Karev had an oxygen tube running to his nose, to help him breathe. He was hooked up to several machines. He looked pale and sickly, but he had cancer, so it made sense to the two of them.

Alex took a deep breath. It was different when you didn't know that patient. But he knew the man lying there and he knew that the man didn't have long. He walked to the end of the bed and picked up the chart. Gwen stood behind him, not facing the bed, not wanting to see, not wanting to make it real. The chart was just as he suspected. The doctors probably suspected that his kidneys would give out soon. The rest of his organs would follow in short order. Inwardly, Alex was thankful that they came. He was thankful he was getting the chance to say good bye so he could live out the rest of his life without regret of this particular situation.

"Well," Gwen whispered. They had both been whispering since they passed through the double doors. There were was just something about the place that made you feel like you'd get in trouble for talking.

"It's not good," Alex whispered back, putting the chart back into the slot at the end of the bed. "He's breathing on his own, which is good," he told her, "but that's about all that's good." She nodded, leaning against her brother. It had been a long time since either of them had actually _needed_ the other.

"Well, are you two kids going to stand there and whisper to each other the whole time or are we going to talk," a voice croaked.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Another chapter up so soon. Go me! Anyway, hope you like it. _Megan_

_Chapter Five_

"Pull up a chair, the two of you," their father said. Alex and Gwen looked at each other and then back at him. "Go on, now, I don't have forever, you know." Nodding, Alex grabbed two chairs that had been set up against the wall. They sat down. Edward Karev smiled down on his children, knowing he had no right to do so.

Alex scowled at him, scooting closer to Gwen.

"I'm sick," he said, without preamble, "but I imagine that two of you already know that. I've had a lot of time lying in the bed to think of my life. I regret a lot of things that I've done, including the way I treated the two of you. I wasn't any kind of father to you. I've never regretted you two, though. One of the nurses looked you two up for me - a surgeon and an author. I didn't have anything to do with that."

"You're damn straight you. . ." Alex started but stopped when Gwen placed her hand on his arm.

"Let him say his peace, Alex, and then you can say yours," she said, quietly. Alex huffed and crossed his arms across his chest. Gwen smiled at her brother before turning back to their father. She really didn't want to hear what he had to say but she imagined this was _his_ way to lie some of his own demons to rest before he passed. He looked pale and his breathing was heavy although he was breathing on his own. He was hooked up to a heart monitor and an IV. She had to keep reminding herself that he wasn't likely to hurt them and if he tried Alex could take him.

The thought made her chuckle, causing Alex to look at her in concern. She shook her head and motioned for their father to continue. And he did, talk, at length – about many things.

Alex listened to his father talk, tapping an erratic cadence with his foot. He could tell that it was irritating Gwen, but it was a nervous tick from his childhood that hearing his father brought on. He spent most of the time reminding himself that he was 29 years old and didn't have to listen if he didn't want to. Gwen sat beside him, seemingly taking in every word that their father said. Alex's erratic cadence quickened as his annoyance raised another level. .

". . . a lot of the time I didn't even know what I was doing, I was so drunk. I don't remember a lot of what I did. I remember playing on stage a lot but not much after that."

Alex bit his bottom lip, stopping his foot from tapping. "I know I don't deserve your forgiveness," Edward said, "and I'm not asking for it." He took a deep breath. "I guess I'm just asking for some understanding, though I doubt I deserve that, either." Alex stood up, abruptly, sending his chair crashing to the floor.

"No, I can't do this," he said, "I'll be outside." He walked out of the room. Alex took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself. He had always hoped that he could reconcile with his father but a part of him had doubts about the whole thing. Was he saying these things because he meant them or because he was dying? Did it matter? Why the Hell was this so hard?

Alex walked down the hall and through the lobby, going straight through the door to go outside. He hadn't intended to go that far, just to the hallway, but he hadn't wanted to stop so he had kept going. He made it to his Jeep and sat in it, leaning his head against the steering wheel. He flicked the radio on – loud – and just sat there.

He didn't move again until he heard sirens coming closer. He looked up to see an ambulance pulling into the parking lot and parked by the door. He jumped out of his Jeep and ran. Alex made to the front door to see three nurses wheeling an elderly lady through the doors on a gurney to be loaded up into the ambulance. Taking a deep breath, he leaned against the wall. He didn't really know what he had been expecting, but it hadn't been that. He was just about to go back inside when the door to the building flung open again. There were three different nurses this time, performing CPR. Gwen was behind them, trying to find out what hospital they were going taking Edward.

"Hey, man, where you taking him," Alex asked, pulling Gwen away.

"Everyone from here goes to Emanuel Hospital," the paramedic said. "You know him?"

"My old man."

"Want to ride along," the paramedic – Miles – asked.

"Nah, we'll follow," he said, "c'mon Gwen." They got into the Jeep and followed the ambulance. "What happened?"

_Edward sighed. "I don't blame him, Gwen. And I won't blame you if you follow him. I was horrible to you kids. I wasn't any kind of father."_

_"You instilled a love of music in both of us," Gwen said quietly. "I know that Alex still plays the guitar," she said, smiling slightly, "although I don't know when he has the time to do it. I still play, too. My boyfriend's a surgeon; he's being doing it longer than Alex has, though. Anyway, I spend my time waiting for him writing my stories and playing the guitar. We may not have had the best childhood but it definitely had some bright spots."_

_"I'm sorry I wasn't better to you," he said._

_Gwen was suddenly glad she hadn't gotten out of her chair. She may understand her father to a degree, but she didn't want him holding her hand. It just wasn't a good idea._

_The machines in the room started beeping. "Get . . . help."_

_Gwen jumped up from her chair, causing it to crash much like Alex's did, and ran to the hallway yelling for help._

_"I'll tell dispatch to send a second ambulance," someone called out. Three nurses rushed over and started performing CPR. If Alex hadn't left, Gwen thought, he could be helping. Not that she was sure he would actually help, but he would have had the opportunity to if he had liked to. The nurses started to wheel Edward out of the room and Gwen followed, asking questions. By the time they got to the door all she really wanted to know was where they were taking him. She thought that she could talk Alex in following to make sure that he was okay._

"That's what happened," she finished up as Alex found a parking spot in the Emergency Room parking lot. She sighed, leaning back against her seat. "I don't want to care, Alex. I really, really, _really_ don't want to care, but. . ."

"That's you, though, Gwen," Alex smirked at her, "you care for about everyone whether you should or not. I don't want to care either, but. . ."

"We're idiots," Gwen said, suddenly. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "If we're going to check on him, let's do it. I'm ready for lunch." Shaking his head, Alex got out of the Jeep and waited for Gwen to come around. He looked back at the passenger seat. Gwen sat there, staring straight forward. Sighing, Alex came over to her door and opened it.

"Are we doing this or not?"

"You go," she said. "I'll wait here."

"It could be hours before they tell us anything," Alex said, not wanting to go in by himself. "We'll let them run their tests and then I'll have copies sent to Seattle Grace for a second opinion. When everything checks out, we'll make sure they get him back to the center and then we'll go back to Seattle. Okay?"

"Alright," Gwen said, sounding defeated.

An hour later, an intern told them that their father would need a right atrium valve replacement. "Is he stable," Alex asked, looking down at the paperwork they handed him to sign.

"He is," the intern – Dr. Sternberg – confirmed. "The sooner we get the surgery done, the better. The Cardiothoracic surgeon has a few more patients to get to, but we should be able to do the surgery tonight or tomorrow morning."

"Hold on," Alex said, jumping up as pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Do you have his chart?"

"I, uh. . ."

"I'm a surgical resident at Seattle Grace, dude, just give me his chart," Alex said, holding his hand out. Hesitantly, the intern handed it over. Alex walked to the other side of the room as he dialed. "Alright, thanks," he said, coming back over to Gwen and Sternberg. "Seattle Grace is sending their helicopter," he said, handing the chart back, "make sure he's ready for transport in an hour."

"I, uh. . ."

"Now," Alex commanded, "and if someone had a problem with it, you can tell them to call me. I'll give you my cell phone number; we need to leave now if we want to get back to Seattle." He wrote down his cell phone number on a piece of scrap paper Gwen handed him and gave it to the intern. "Let's go."

They made it back to Seattle in just over two hours, thanks to Alex's reckless driving. Gwen was surprised he hadn't been pulled over. He spent most of the time on the phone with Meredith Grey, who was being assigned to their father's case.

"You've called for the valve already? Great. Porcine Valve, yeah. It's there? That was fast. How much longer till the helicopter gets back? Okay, fine. Yeah, we're almost there. He's meeting us where? Okay. I'll find him. Thanks, Mer, bye." He hung up his phone as he pulled into the parking lot. "We're meeting the Chief in the lobby," he said. "I'm going to try and scrub in, so I might not be able to sit with you during the surgery."

"It's fine, Alex," Gwen said, "but I don't think they'll let you scrub in. Isn't against most hospitals policy to allow relatives to work on one another?"

"Whatever," he said, parking the car. They half-ran into the hospital. Chief Richard Webber stood there with two doctors, one of them extremely familiar to Gwen.

"Nikkos," she called out, running into his open arms, a smile upon his face.

"Gwen," he said, hugging her tightly.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came for Christmas," he said. "You asked your brother, right?" Gwen nodded. "What's this about your Dad?"

"You're asking me," Gwen said. "Ask Alex. Nikkos, my brother, Alex Karev. Alex, this is Dr. Nikkos Rowan."

"Dr. Rowan," Alex said, stepping forward, shaking his hand.

"Dr. Karev," Nikkos said, formally. "I've talked Chief Webber into letting me perform the valve replacement. He's also allowing the two of you to sit in the gallery."

"Sir," Alex said, "I thought I might scrub in. You know, to observe."

"You can observe from the gallery, Karev," the Chief said. "If there are any problems, you'll be asked to wait somewhere else. Make sure you have your interns with you, so they can learn." He turned to Gwen. "Ms. Karev, we'll need to have you sign some papers allowing you to observe. This is Dr. Erica Hahn, head of Cardio here. She's going to talk you through the procedure while Dr. Rowan scrubs in and Dr. Karev finds his interns. She'll take you up to the gallery."

Gwen nodded. "Okay. Good luck, Nikkos," she said, hugging him again. He kissed her quickly and walked off with Chief Webber. "Alright, so how does this work? Alex said something about a porcine valve. Are they really going to put in a valve from a pig?"

"Yes," Dr. Hahn said. "His valve isn't working well enough on his own, from the tests the hospital sent to us. We're going to do another EKG when he arrives to confirm in, but chances are good that he'll need the surgery."

**A/N: Alright, so I _like_ take charge Alex at Emanuel Hospital. That was pretty cool. I'm not sure that any hospital would have let Alex and Gwen watch from the Gallery, but it's MY story. . .so there! LOL. This chapter seem to have come a little quicker, a little better. I kind of _like_ this chapter. We'll start doing relationship things with Alex in the next chapter or two. A little MerDer on the way as well. Thanks for reading. Reviews are appreciated. You guys ROCK!**


	6. Chapter 6

I think I fixed all my formatting problems with this chapter. The others are turning out to be a lost cause. LOL. Anyway, hope you enjoy this one. Reviews, as always, are appreciated. Oh, and this is call _fanfiction_ so it's not mine . . . Enjoy!

_Chapter Six_

Alex pecked his sister on the cheek and ran after the Chief. "Chief! Chief!"

"Yes, Dr. Karev," Richard Webber said, stopping and turning around the face the young Resident.

"If I can't be down there," he said, "I want Dr. Bailey to be there."

Dr. Webber looked at him and then nodded. "Alright, page her and let her know." Alex nodded and ran to the nurse's station.

"So, tell me about Dr. Karev," Nikkos said as they walked towards the elevators to take them to the roof.

"He's a good doctor, mostly," Richard said. "He doesn't like to sugar coat things, which doesn't make him popular with the Attendings, but the patients don't seem to mind. He's not overly liked in a general kind of way, but he's close with a few people." Richard shrugged. "He did well on his intern exam last summer."

Nikkos nodded. "From what Gwendolyn told me, he's always been that way," he said, smiling. "Alright, which way is it to the roof?"

"Follow me."

ALEXALEXALEX

"What is it, Karev," Miranda Bailey asked, irritated.

"I need a favor," he said. "My father will be here soon. The helicopter is about twenty minutes out. He needs a porcine valve replacement and I would like you to scrub in."

"Alex. . ."

"It's just I'm not allowed to scrub in. . ."

"As if I would let you," Bailey said, standing up. "You switched with Izzie Stevens who has spent the last hour filling out paperwork for the helicopter and the valve. You have the day _off_. You are not going to be scrubbing in on any surgery let alone your father's. I may have grown soft, Karev, but I'm not stupid."

"I know."

"You. . .what?"

"I know," Alex said. "Chief Webber is letting me watch from the gallery. I have to have my interns with me, but he's letting me watch. My sister, too, but I think that was Dr. Rowan's request, because it wasn't mine."

"Dr. Rowan as in Nikkos Rowan the Cardiothoracic surgeon from Chicago?" 

Alex nodded. "He's performing the surgery. Listen, I have to round up my interns, will you. . ."

"Of course," Bailey said. "Yeah, I'll scrub in."

"Okay, it's in OR3. If you see any of my interns send them to the gallery," he said. Bailey nodded and Alex turned to a nurse to have his interns paged. He had to find Izzie.

He found her in the clinic, watching over her interns. "Iz," he said, coming up behind him.

"Hey, Alex," she said. "How's your father?"

"He needs a valve transplant," he said. "Listen, thank you for filling out the request forms and everything. You didn't have to do that." 

Izzie shrugged. "I was bored. There wasn't any interesting surgeries or anything."

Alex scoffed. "Okay, but . . . thanks. Thank you. The Chief is letting me watch from the gallery. Are you coming?"

"Oh, are you watching a surgery today," Sydney Heron asked, walking up.

"Yeah," Alex said, cautiously. "It's a porcine valve replacement," he said, "I was just checking to see if Dr. Stevens was planning on going." 

"Why don't you go ahead, Dr. Stevens," Sydney said, "I can watch your interns while you watch the surgery."

"Are you sure," Izzie asked, standing up.

"I'm sure we'll have lots of fun," Sydney said. "Go learn something." Izzie didn't need to be told twice. She walked out of the clinic, causing Alex to walk after her.

"That woman drives me crazy," Izzie whispered when they were away from the clinic.

"Yeah, I know," Alex said.

ALEXALEXALEX

The gallery was full, which irritated to Alex to no end. Gwen sat beside him, not really paying attention, even though her boyfriend was preparing their father for surgery. Izzie sat on the other side of him, being Izzie – in other words, sitting there fretting. His interns and Meredith's surrounded him. Nikkos had asked her to scrub in because he had met her Mom once. Whatever. The door opened and Lexie walked in and sat down beside George.

Alex turned back to look through the glass. "What's going on with you and O'Malley," Alex whispered to Izzie.

"We're best friends again, nothing more," she said, "I don't know what we were thinking." She looked at him. "Alex, I'm really sorry. I. . ."

"They're starting," one of his interns said. Alex glared at them and then turned back to the glass in front of him.

ALEXALEXALEX

Turns out, it was a bad idea for Nikkos to perform the surgery on Edward Karev. As Nikkos stood above the man that had caused his girlfriend so much strife in her short life, he would have rather throttled him then replace his valve.

"Dr. Rowan," Meredith Grey asked, "is everything alright?"

Nikkos looked up to the gallery. Gwen sat beside her brother, smiling down at him. He winked at her and looked around at the staff surrounding him. "Alright, let's party," he said. The door opened behind him and Chief Webber walked in. "Can I help you," Nikkos asked him, making the initial incision.

"Just observing," Webber said. "You won't even know that I'm here."

"You can observe from the gallery," Nikkos suggested lightly. He looked up in time to see Gwen shaking his head at him. "Or here is fine." She smiled. Nikkos closed his eyes for two seconds, opened them, and continued with the surgery as if it was just another patient.

ALEXALEXALEX

"Dr. Rowan looks funny," one of Alex's interns commented. Alex hung his head. When would they learn to keep their mouth shut?

"Ignore them," Izzie whispered. Alex nodded. The door opened, admitting Derek Shepard.

"Hello, Dr. Shepard," Lexie said.

"Dr. Grey," he greeted. He nodded at George, who nodded back, and made his way to the front row of seats to sit by Gwen. "Hey," he said.

"Hey," she said back. "What do you know about valve replacements?"

"A little," he said. "The heart is interesting, but the brain is amazing."

"Says the brain surgeon," Gwen teased. "No, seriously, do you think he'll be okay?"

"Every surgery has its risk," Derek said, diplomatically. Gwen rolled her eyes, causing Derek to laugh. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"It's too close to Christmas for him to die," Gwen said, sweeping a scrutinizing gaze through the OR below. "If he dies now, it will overshadow every Christmas for the rest of my life. That would suck."

"My father passed away on birthday," Derek said, quietly, laying his arm on the back of her seat. Gwen looked at him. Derek nodded. "I quit celebrating them for a long time. It was only recently that I started back up . . . after my divorce. My father passed away when I was fifteen."

"That's a lot of birthdays."

Derek nodded. "It is. But you can't stop living your life because something bad happens."

"I'm not sure that it would be entirely bad," Gwen confessed. "I know that sounds mean or unkind, but he was horrible when we were little. We idolized him for so long and he treated us like we were an inconvenience. I have to get out of here." She looked a little pale.

Derek nodded. "C'mon, then."

"I can't watch this," Gwen whispered to her brother, "I'll be around somewhere." He nodded, not sure what was going on, but let her go, Shepard following her.

"What was that all about," Izzie asked.

"I don't know," he said. "I should probably go check on her."

"He's McDreamy," Izzie said, "he'll watch out for her. He has four sisters, you know."

"How do you know that?"

"Mer told me. Don't worry so much," Izzie said, "everything will be fine. It has to be." Alex sighed, not saying anything. Lexie sat down beside him, causing him to sigh again.

"Should you really be watching this," she asked him quietly.

Alex shrugged. "It isn't that big of a deal," he told her, "I haven't seen him in ten years. Watch and learn." Lexie sighed and watched the surgery.

ALEXALEXALEX

"Feel better," he asked, watching Gwen gulp down half a cup of hot tea. She nodded, gaining some color back to her face.

"How do you guys do that," Gwen asked. "You just cut someone open and stuff your hands in there. Doesn't it gross you out?"

"If it did, we wouldn't belong in the OR," Derek said, gesturing for her to sit down on a chair nearby. "Not everyone is built to do this," he said, "just like not everyone in built to write. I work in the brain, but I couldn't write a creative story to save my life."

"Everyone can write," Gwen argued, "most of it just isn't any good. How did you know about the writing?"

"Lexie and Meredith went out and bought a copy of each of your books," Derek told her, smiling. "You have two new fans." He chuckled. "You've really never watched a surgery before?"

"I have," Gwen nodded. "I'm starting a new romance series. It takes place in the hospital. Lots of surgeons. Lots of inappropriate sex. The medicine has to be there. Nikkos is happy to inspire me on both accounts."

"I'm sure he is," Derek said, blushing a little.

Gwen laughed, realizing what she said. "Yeah, well, that's besides the point." She crossed her legs and leaned back against the chair as Derek sat down beside her. "Oh, how are you and Meredith doing, anyway?"

"Surprising well," he responded. "But, give us time, I'm sure we'll screw it up."

"Well, aren't you the optimist." 

"I used to be," he said, honestly. "Yeah, I used to be, but . . . things happen. Things happen and your view of the world changes. It isn't necessarily a bad thing. I still believe in True Love and Soul Mates. I think I've found both in Meredith. And when we're together, we're great. Really great. But sometimes. . ."

"You're over thinking it," Gwen said. "You two want to be together, be together, and quit making it so hard on yourselves and each other. Talk when you have a problem and have sex often. That's Nikkos' philosophy."

"The sex isn't the problem," he said, "the sex is great." Two nurses that had been walking by stopped and looked at him. Derek blushed again, seeing them, and turning back to Gwen, causing Karev's little sister to giggle. They talked for a couple of more hours. Derek even took her on a tour of the hospital, which she appreciated, and answered some of her medical questions for her book. "Call anytime with a question," he said, "I might not answer, but I'll get back to you."

She smiled as they made it back to the coffee cart where they started. "Should it be taking this long?"

"I'm sure . . .," he said as his pager beeped, "that's Karev. C'mon, then."

Gwen took a deep breath. _Everything would be fine. Everything would be fine. Everything would be fine._

A/N: Okay, so I threw some Bailey in there. Some Derek. No actual MerDer, though. Sorry about that, it sort of didn't fit in the chapter. There was some Lexie. And Izzie. Even though I don't always like her. Oh, and some Nikkos. Nikkos is pretty cool. I'm planning on bringing Sloan back in. We'll see. Thanks for reading. You guys rock!


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter Seven_

Derek saw Karev and Stevens standing outside of a door in the ICU. Gwen and Derek reached them just as Nikkos and Meredith were coming out of the room. "Your father should recover nicely," he told Gwen quietly. "We're keeping him for observation, but then he should be able to go back hom. . .to the treatment center. . .soon."

Gwen smirked, realizing her boyfriend almost slipped and said home. "Good," Gwen said, allowing Nikkos to hug her. She closed her eyes and leaned into his embrace, taking a deep breath. "I'm tired."

"You've had an emotionally tiring day," he said. "Let's go back to the hotel. Grey has her interns checking in on him every hour." Nikkos turned to Alex. "I'd like to talk to you tomorrow if you have some time." Gwen smiled encouragingly at the both of them.

"Yeah, alright," Alex said. Nikkos stuck out his hand, Alex shook it.

"Let's go, babe," Nikkos said, putting his arm around her shoulder.

Alex watched them leave. She was happy. That was all he could really ask for. There was one thing that bugged him, though: how could she be so well adjusted when he was barely hanging on some days?

"Alex, are you alright," Izzie asked him quietly.

"Sure," Alex said. He needed a drink. "I'm heading to Joe's. Are you coming?"

Fifteen minutes later Alex found himself at the bar at Joe's. "Hey, how's your dad," Joe asked. He and Joe had become good friends over the past year. Hell, the only place that held more of his time was the hospital.

"How'd you find out," Alex asked.

"Izzie's been keeping me updated," he said. "Thanks for telling me by the way." 

Alex shrugged. "Not much to tell. The old man will die or he won't. He's terminal anyway, it was just delaying the inevitable."

"So, why haven't I met your sister yet," Joe asked, smiling. "I bet she's as much of a ray of sunshine as you are."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Dude, she's, like, happy. I can't figure out how she can be so happy."

"The mind boggles," Joe teased. "Another one," he asked, gesturing towards Alex's almost empty bottle. He nodded as Izzie slid on the stool beside him. "Hey, Sweetie," Joe said, "the usual?"

"Sure, thanks, Joe," Izzie said. When Joe walked away, Izzie leaned over. "Are you sure you're okay, Alex? Because you seem . . . I don't know, more _you_ than usual."

"Drop it, Iz, I don't want to talk about it," he said, taking another pull of his beer. He took a deep breath and sighed. He was never one to talk about his past, his childhood. He only ever did that with Gwen and even then, they skirted the issue and never really discussed it – hardly said anything openly. He tried not to think about it. He tried not to let it affect him, but it didn't always work and sometimes he was stuck with memories that he didn't want.

That didn't mean that he should take it out on Izzie.

"I'm sorry, Izzie," he said. "Having him here just brings up a lot of old memories I rather not have. It was a bad idea to go see him in the first place."

"Then why did you," Izzie asked carefully.

"I've always taken care of Gwen," he said, "for as long as I can remember. It's hard to tell her no. She had to talk me into it. I thought it was a good idea at the time. Whatever, it's done, and soon he'll go back to where he came from and I won't ever have to see him again."

"He's your father, Alex," she said, "at least you can remember yours."

Alex didn't say anything. He finished his beer, threw some money on the bar, and left. He didn't need this crap. He didn't need Izzie telling him to make amends. He didn't.

He kind of wanted to talk to Gwen about it, but then again, he didn't want to talk. Plus, she and Rowan would be back in their hotel room doing god knows what. He went home. Lexie was there, making a sandwich.

"What, do you live here now," he asked her.

"I might," she said. "George and I are thinking about getting an apartment."

"You and O'Malley," Alex questioned, confused.

"We're friends," Lexie said, "like you and Meredith."

"Yeah, well, I used to hit on Meredith," Alex admitted, "so unless he's been flirting. . ." Lexie smiled. "Dammit," Alex said, "he has."

"No, Alex, calm down," she said. "It's not like we're together, so even if he has, you shouldn't get upset. Do you want a sandwich? It's roast beef."

"Sure, why not," he said, sitting at the island. Lexie made another sandwich and passed it over to him. "It is okay, if you want to live here, with me anyway. I don't know where you'd sleep. . ."

"I've been sleeping in the den, with George," she said, "but we both need a place to have our own space. He brought it up since he and Izzie aren't together anymore."

"Oh." 

"Yeah," Lexie said. "So your sister is staying for Christmas?"

"Yes," he said, "she and her boyfriend, Nikkos."

"The one who performed the surgery," Lexie questioned. Alex nodded. She smiled. "It's nice to have family around, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Alex said. "It is."

A/N: Just a short, mindless piece of fluff to help the story along. Some of Alex's thoughts and a little one-on-one time with Lexie. She can be a pretty cool chick, huh?

So, about the episode last night. . .I'm not sure what to think. It was. . .weird.


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter Eight_

Gwen and Nikkos sat down beside him the next day in the cafeteria. "Hello, Alex," Gwen said, stealing the apple off of his tray.

"Gwen," Alex greeted, shutting the book he'd been reading. "Dr. Rowan."

"Call me, Nikkos," the surgeon said.

"Alright," Alex said, "what do you need?"

"Can't a girl come see her brother without the third degree," Gwen asked, smiling.

"Not usually," Alex said. "Shepard has me scrubbing in on a surgery this afternoon. Did you need something or are you just here to bother me?" 

"Just bothering you," Gwen replied, teasingly. "Nikkos came in to get some work done and I didn't have anything else to do."

"You could write," Alex said.

"I'm planning on it," she said, "I'm waiting for my muse to come for a visit. What else are you doing?"

Alex shrugged.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Do you think you can find time to get a drink later, when your shift is over?" He shrugged again. "Alright, meet me at the bar across the street. Call me when you're about to go over. I'm going to visit Dad for a bit and then . . . I don't know, I'll find something to do."

"Yeah, I can meet you at Joe's," he said, taking the uneaten apple back from his sister. "Introduce yourself to Joe when you get there," Alex said, "he ragged on me last night for not bringing you along." His pager went off. "I got to go," he took a bite of apple, "see ya." He picked up his tray and left.

"See ya," she said.

"I have to go meet up with Chief Webber," Nikkos said, kissing Gwen. "I'll find up with you later, yeah?"

"Yeah," she said, leaning forward to kiss him again. She smiled. "Get going." He smiled and got up, kissing the top of her head. "Get going," she repeated, smiling. When he was gone, she pulled her laptop from her messenger bag and started replying to emails and checking in on a couple chat rooms online.

"Hey, Gwen," Meredith said, sitting down, Cristina and Izzie tagging along.

"Hi, Girls," Gwen said, "what's up? Any interesting surgeries?"

"No," they all said.

"How's my Dad," Gwen asked Meredith.

"He's stable," she said, opening a bottle of pop. "They should be able to transfer him back to the Treatment Center in two days." Gwen nodded. "Are you and Alex planning on visiting him again?"

"I'm not," Gwen said, "and I'm pretty sure that Alex only went to see him because I wanted to. I imagine this will be the last time either of us see him." She bit her bottom lip, typing away on her computer. She had to explain to her Editor why her next two chapters were late. "Do any of you three have Dad's?"

"I don't talk to mine," Meredith said, "he's an alcoholic."

"My father passed away when I was seven," Cristina offered up, unexpectedly, "but I have a stepfather I see during the holidays – sometimes." Meredith and Cristina looked at Izzie, waiting for her to talk.

"I didn't know my father," Izzie said, quietly, "he took off before I was born. It's common where I'm from."

"That sucks," Gwen said, "at least my Dad stuck around until Alex pinned him to the living room floor."

"Really," Cristina asked. "I didn't think Evil Spawn had it in him."

Gwen smiled, the nickname for her brother struck her as incredibly funny. "Dad's suck," she said after a while. They all nodded.

ALEXALEXALEX

Edward Karev was resting comfortably and snoring slightly. Alex sat on a chair on the other side of the room doing some charting and trying to avoid everyone. Nikkos Rowan walked in so Alex's good-luck streak must have ended. "Alex," Nikkos greeted.

Alex looked up at him, nodded, glanced briefly at the heart monitor, and went back to his charting.

"I really love your sister, you know," Nikkos said, looking over Edward's chart.

Alex nodded, not looking up.

"You don't approve," Nikkos questioned.

"I don't know you, dude," Alex said, "so I don't have any opinions on you and my sister. She seems to care for you and I'm alright with that." Alex looked at him. "But if you ever hurt my sister, physically or emotionally, I will track you down and rip your heart out. Are we clear?"

Nikkos nodded.

"Peachy," Alex said sarcastically, gathering his charts and leaving the room.

"Nice kid," Nikkos commented dryly to the sleeping patient. He returned Edward's chart to the holder at the end of the bed and left the room.

A/N: I know that this is **incredibly**__unforgivably short but I'm not sure how to get where I want to go with this story. I'm really sorry that it's taken so long to get anything posted. I'll try my best to get something worthy up soon. Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing. I'm glad you like the story and I appreciate your kind remarks. Megan.


	9. Chapter 9

_It's called fanfiction for a reason, kids. Not mine._

_Chapter Nine_

Alex spotted her just after lunch. She was walking around aimlessly, supposedly looking for him. "Ava," he said. She turned towards him, a bright smile upon her face. "What are you doing here? Is everything okay?"

"Fine," Ava said. "Everything is fine. I wanted to come to . . . to talk to you. Do you have a minute or do you have a surgery?"

"I've got some free time," he said, smiling at her. "Let's go." They found a linen closet. "I take it you aren't here for a quickie."

"No," she said, smiling, "I'm not. I'm actually here to say goodbye."

"Goodbye? Seriously?"

"I got a job at a publishing company in New York. A friend of mine from college got a hold of me. I don't want to be so far from my daughter, but. . ."

Alex nodded.

"I'm leaving, soon," she said, "and I just wanted to let you know so we had time to have a . . . a proper goodbye."

"When are you leaving," he asked.

"Right after Christmas," she said. "My friend, Charlene, has an extra bedroom. She's going to show me the way in the concrete jungle. Listen, can we keep in contact or something? You know, emails or letters or something."

"Sure," he said, "I guess."

"It's just, I really like you Alex. I just don't think the two of us are ever going to work," she said, surprising him. "Especially since I'm moving to the other side of the country. Even if I was staying, though, you work crazy hours, and I may just be crazy . . . it would be too much."

Alex nodded, not knowing what else to do.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"What," Alex asked.

"Have you had lunch," she clarified.

"Yeah," he said, "sorry."

"Don't apologize," Ava smiled. "I tried, right? I have some things to do before I get on the airplane so I better go. If you're even in New York, look me up, okay?"

"Yeah," Alex said. His pager went off. "I have to go, but . . ." 

"I'll come find you before I leave," she said, "I promise. Go save a life."

Alex kissed her cheek, lingered a bit, and then ran off to answer his page. He pushed the thoughts of Ava out of his mind, hoping he wasn't making a mistake by letting her go – a second time.

A/N: A quick update, but a woefully short chapter. I decided it was time to get Ava out of the way but still give her a "happy" ending. She's not gone for good, we still have the "proper" goodbye and I'm not sure if she won't make an appearance sometime after that. We'll see. It was just time to let Ava go. Of course, Alex has to silently question himself. Anyway, reviews are encouraged and appreciated. Thanks for reading. Megan.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: This one is a little longer but it's really fluffy. Hope you enjoy it anyway. I'll try to get updates quicker. The song in this fic is "Everything I Do" by Bryan Adams and the lyrics were pulled from the site If they are wrong, though, that's my bad. I have no idea if Justin Chambers can sing or not but I decided since Alex is supposed to be musically inclined thanks to his father that he could. Reviews are welcome as are ideas. Thanks for reading. You guys rock!

_Chapter Ten_

Alex's day had gotten progressively worse. The patient he was working on with Shepard died on the table. The kid probably wasn't even in high school yet. He ran into Lexie afterwards. She knew about Ava leaving. Apparently, Olivia had seen them go into the linen closet and had talked to Ava afterwards.

Running the day over in his mind, Alex changed to meet up with Gwen. He was glad that he hadn't run into Nikkos. Something about the guy was off and Alex didn't like it. He came out of the Resident's locker room to find Lexie waiting for him.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she replied. "I'm sorry about Ava."

"Don't worry about it," he said as they walked towards the lobby. "It's probably for the best. She'll be happier in New York." Lexie nodded, unconvinced, walking beside him. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I don't know," she said.

"Why not," he asked.

"It's just . . . everything," Lexie said. "I really don't know what I'd do without Meredith and Cristina. That's crazy, right?"

Alex smiled. "Nope," he said, "it's nice to have family, isn't it?"

Lexie laughed, having her statement from the other night turned around on her. "It is," she agreed. "Are you heading to Joe's?"

"Yeah, are you coming?"

Lexie nodded. They walked across the street and went into Joe's.

"There's my favorite Resident," Gwen yelled, happily.

"Great, my little sister is inebriated," Alex said, quietly, causing Lexie to laugh. "Not funny," Alex half-growled before crossing the bar to come to his sister's side. "Gwen, what do you think you're doing?"

"Joe is a great guy," Gwen grinned, "he's got some great stories about you. Where's Dr. O'Malley, I want to congratulate him."

"For what," Alex asked, ordering a beer.

"For punching you, of course," Gwen said, laughing. "Dr. O'Malley," she called out in a sing-song voice.

"He's on-call tonight," Meredith said, grinning. "She's really smashed."

Alex nodded. "How much have you had to drink," he asked Gwen.

"Just a few," she said, defensively and in the next breath, she was laughing – loudly. "Do you remember that time that we sang on stage with Dad," Gwen asked, still laughing, "and you forgot the words?"

"Yeah," Alex smiled.

"And the time that we got into Dad's Scotch," she said, tapping his arm, "do you remember that?"

"I remember vomit," he said, taking a swig of beer. "Please don't do that again."

Gwen laughed again.

"How much has she really had," he asked Joe.

"She started drinking sometime during the last shift. I'm not sure," Joe said. "Is she going to be okay?"

Alex nodded. "She's a happy drunk."

"I'm not _a_ drunk," Gwen said, laughing, "I'm just _drunk_." Alex shook his head. His sister was always good for a laugh or two . . . or three. "Izzie's pretty cool, Alex," Gwen said, continuing her drunken chatter, "why don't you date her? She'd make an awesome sister-in-law."

"He did date me," Izzie said from behind him. Alex reached out to steady her; she was also drunk. "Then he cheated on me with Syph nurse."

"Izzie," Alex scolded, shocked, "my sister doesn't need to know that."

"Sure she does," Izzie said, clumsily climbing up onto a bar stool, "she needs to know how her brother is really Evil Spawn."

"Evil Spawn," Gwen echoed, laughing. "Alex, you realize how funny that is, right? Because Dad's an ass. It's hilarious."

"I think it's time for someone to get some sleep," Alex said.

"Sweetie, are you okay," Joe said. Izzie had gone pale and was gripping the side of the bar as if her life depended on it. Alex set his beer down, which Gwen immediately picked up and started drinking, and went to stand behind Izzie.

"Are you okay," Alex said, quietly, his mouth close to her ear. She nodded, still gripping the bar top. "I think you need to go home, too." She nodded again. Alex looked around. Lexie and Cristina were playing pool on the other side of the room. He helped Izzie off of the bar stool, his arm around her waist, and turned to Gwen. "Gwennie, come on, it's time to leave."

Meredith smiled, watching Alex and his sister interact. She and Lexie were just getting to that point – where they trusted and leaned on each other, but Alex and Gwen could have been like that their whole life - and probably had. Meredith shook her head, there was no use trying to change the past – it was set it stone. Alex had a little trouble getting Gwen to leave as his little sister decided it was time to sing.

"No, I think that's a bad idea," Alex said, trying really hard to neither laugh nor yell at the two drunken women currently in his life. "Mer, how about a little help here?"

"You seem to be doing fine all on your own," Meredith said, ordering another shot of tequila. Alex looked at her. "I'm not trying to drown my sorrows," she said, "just blocking the white noise." Alex gave her a confused look, sighed, and turned back to his sister. Taking the beer from her, he gently pulled her off the stool. She stumbled and fell to her knees, laughing on the way down.

"Alright, seriously, the two of you need to knock it off," Alex said. "We're leaving and you're both just going to have to deal with it." He sat Izzie down on a chair from a nearby table and then picked Gwen up, hoisting up her underarms.

"You should sing," Gwen said, quietly, "you have a beautiful voice and Joe just got a karaoke machine."

Alex sighed. "If I sing do you promise to let me take you home?" She nodded. "Fine. Joe, can I use your karaoke machine?" Joe called over a waitress to watch over the bar as he went over to the corner with Alex to set up the machine.

"What are you going to sing," Joe smirked.

"This one," Alex said, pointing to the song in one of the many books Joe had. "You have a lot of songs for just starting out."

"Walter likes karaoke," Joe sighed. "Not that he spends any time at the bar anymore. It's constantly about the kids. Not that I'm complaining, because the whole thing makes him happy . . ."

"Everything will turn out okay," Alex said.

"Thanks," Joe said. "You really think so?"

"It's something Gwen would say," Alex said, thoughtfully. "Or Izzie. She says things like that, too. All the time, it's annoying."

"Yeah, well, man, you need someone like Izzie. You two balance each other."

Alex looked at him, confused.

"I'm serious," Joe said, "you two just fit. Whatever, man, sing so you can get those girls home before they do something they both regret." Joe flicked some extra lights on and then went behind the bar. The music started and Alex picked up the microphone.

_Look into my eyes – you will see_

_What you mean to me_

_Search your heart – search your soul_

_And when you find me there, you'll search no more_

_Don't tell me it's not worth fighting for_

_You can't tell me it's not worth dying for_

_You know it's true_

_Everything I do – I do it for you_

_Look into my heart – you will find_

_There's nothing there to hide_

_Take me as I am – take my life_

_I would give it all – I would sacrifice_

_Don't tell me it's not worth fighting for_

_You can't tell me it's not worth dying for_

_You know it's true_

_Everything I do – I do it for you_

_There's no love – like your love_

_And no other – could give more love_

_There's nowhere – unless you're there_

_All the time – all the way_

_Oh – you can't tell me it's not worth trying for_

_I can't help it – there's nothing I want more_

_I would fight for you – I'd _lie_ for you _

_Walk the wire for you – yeah I'd die for you_

_You know it's true_

_Everything I do – I do it for you_

When the song finished, Alex caught Izzie staring at him with tears in her eyes. He put the microphone down and crossed the bar. He gathered a silent Izzie and Gwen and loaded them into the back of Izzie's car. He put Gwen in his bed and made sure Izzie got into hers before grabbing a blanket and crashing on the couch.


	11. Chapter 11

This fic will most likely end after Christmas Day in the story, at least that's the plan at the moment. I'm sure I'll make this fic a series because I have some ideas but first we have to get through the father thing and the Christmas thing. Thanks for reading.

_Chapter Eleven_

Alex woke up the day before Christmas Eve, cuddling with Izzie on the couch. He couldn't, for the life of him, figure out how she got there because he specifically remembered putting her into her own bed the night before. He heard clanking in the kitchen. He took extra care in getting off the couch and headed to the kitchen. Everyone looked at him when he came in and smiled (except Cristina).

Shepard was cooking, Mer standing close to him. Lexie, George, and Cristina all crowded around the island. "What," he said, to the people staring at him before pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Does no one have to work today? Get going, we're going to be late."

Pouring two more cups, Alex gathered the three mugs and left the kitchen, much to the amusement of its inhabitants. He left a cup of coffee on the table by the couch before running upstairs to get ready for work and check on Gwen. He was excited she was going to be around for Christmas. Last year they had mailed their gifts to each other and she had called him late in the day. This year they could celebrate together. He'd talk to Izzie about it later; he was planning on making it the best Christmas ever.

"Where the Hell am I," Gwen asked, groggily as Alex placed a mug on the nightstand.

"My room," Alex said, causing her to jump in surprise. "Calm down, already," he said. "I have to get ready for work." 

"You have to work," she asked, "again?"

"Some people work everyday," Alex responded, digging in his closet for some clean scrubs.

"Yes, but I'm in town," she said, snuggling up in the covers and ignoring the coffee. "Do you have to work _everyday_?"

"Some of us don't have the luxury of being able to work wherever we go," he told her. "Are you planning on coming in to the hospital today, again?"

"I have some shopping to do," she said. "Did you get any of your friends anything?"

Alex just looked at her.

"You suck," she said, sitting up. "Before you leave write down everyone you want to buy for and I'll pick something up."

"I don't want to buy for anyone," Alex said.

Gwen sighed. "I'll ask someone else then. I don't remember what happened last night. Is Izzie okay? Did Nikkos ever show up?"

"What's the last thing you remember," he smirked.

"You," she said, "singing."

Alex groaned. "Izzie's fine," he said, "she's on the couch. And, no, Nikkos didn't show."

"You left her on the couch," Gwen said, disapprovingly.

"No," he said, "I put her in her bed and I slept on the couch. When I woke up. . ."

Gwen grinned.

"What?"

"Nothing at all," Gwen said. "Is Izzie off today?" Gwen crawled out of the bed and grabbed the cup of coffee before leaving the room and heading downstairs. Alex shook his head, grabbed a pair of scrubs, and went downstairs to see who was heading to work.

ALEXALEXALEX

Nikkos met him in the lobby. "It's my last day, Dr. Karev," Nikkos said, "would you like to assist me with a triple by-pass."

"Yeah, that would be fine," Alex said and then went to the locker room to change and track down his interns.

"Karev," Cristina said, storming into the locker room. "Rowan is dating your sister," she said.

"And?"

"And? And? Put in a good word for me and get me on a surgery. I _need_ a Cardio surgery."

"Want a triple by-pass," he asked her.

"Yes," she said, without hesitation.

"What do you got," Alex asked.

"The Chief has a surgery he's requested me for," she said. "Meredith thinks he's watching over me like he watches over her because Burke left."

Alex shrugged. "If it's okay with him, it's okay with me." Cristina nodded and ran off.

ALEXALEXALEX

"It's amazing how drinking brings people together," Izzie said as she and Gwen entered the mall.

"Oh? How is that?"

"Well, a couple of days ago we didn't even like each other. . ."

Gwen laughed. "You were kind of rude," Gwen said, apologetically. "I wasn't impressed."

"I was having a bad day," Izzie said. "It had nothing to do with you . . . or Alex."

"You really like my brother, don't you," Gwen asked as they picked a store to start in.

"I, uh, well . . ."

Gwen laughed, again. "It's okay. I get the impression he really likes you, too." Izzie smiled. "Alright, so what should Alex buy Derek?"

ALEXALEXALEX

"You traded," Nikkos said when he found Alex later in the day in the tunnels.

"Yeah, Yang _needed_ a cardio surgery," Alex said, flipping the page of his sister's latest book. (Meredith had loaned it to him).

"I asked you to scrub in for a reason," Nikkos said.

"Listen," Alex said, putting the book down, "if it's not Plastics or Neo-natal, I have to admit, I'm not interested. A surgery is a surgery when you're near the bottom of the totem pole, but I've had some excellent teachers . . . and I'm not interested in learning from you."

"This isn't about you, Alex," Nikkos said, "this is about your sister." Nikkos sat down across from him in a spare wheelchair. "I'm moving to Texas," he said, after a while.

"Why?"

"An old teacher of mine is planning on retiring in a year or two and he wants me to take his place as Chief of Surgery," Nikkos explained. "I don't think that Gwen will want to go."

"She loves you," Alex said hesitantly. "She'll go." He wasn't sure what was going on, but he was certain he wasn't going to like it.

"I think maybe I don't want Gwen to want to go," Nikkos said. "I'm going to be busy, being in a new hospital and a new town. I'm not going to have nearly as much time for her. It would be cruel to put her through that."

Alex stared at the man his sister loved and contemplated several horrible deaths that could pass as accidents.

"She has her writing to keep her busy," Alex said. "She'll make new friends. She loves you, Dude. She thinks you're going to propose." Alex had never been one to lie, so he figured he should be honest with the guy even if he currently hated his guts. "It's the day before Christmas Eve," Alex said, sliding off the gurney. "You ruin Christmas for her and they won't find a body part big enough to bury." Alex's beeper went off. It was from Meredith. _Edward Karev_, it said, _911_.


	12. Chapter 12

_Chapter Twelve_

Izzie and Gwen were just checking out at the last store they had decided on. "I think that's everyone," Izzie said as the two of them gathered their bags. "Did you get everyone on your list?"

"Mine and Alex's," she said, impressed with herself.

Izzie's beeper went off. "What do you say we go to the hospital," Izzie asked.

"Sure, I guess," Gwen said. "Is everything alright?"

"Just something I need to check on," Izzie said, absently. They hopped into Gwen's rental car and went to the hospital. "This way," Izzie said, looking around as they went.

"Are you sure everything is okay?"

"Fine," Izzie said, "I'm sure everything is fine." They stepped off the elevator to have a nurse rush past them with a crash cart. "Oh, no." Alex stood outside of the room where all the commotion was going on. "What happened?"

"He's, uh, he's circling," Alex said, looking nervously at Gwen. She was biting her bottom lip.

"I think I'm going to go back to the hotel," she said, quietly.

"How about, instead, we stop at the grocery store and pick up some ingredients. I have a new cookie recipe I want to try," Izzie said, hoping to be able to distract the younger Karev.

"Are you staying," Gwen asked her brother.

"My shift ends in six hours," Alex said evasively. Gwen sighed. "I'm probably going to stay here, Gwen. But, I'm working," he said.

"Not as of now, you aren't," Dr. Bailey said, walking up behind him. "Go change, Karev. You want to stay around here, you'll do so as a son, not as a doctor."

"Listen to her, Alex, she's a doctor," Gwen said, hoping that the woman she didn't know would make her brother stay with her.

"So am I," Alex said, irritated.

"Yes, well, I'm Chief Resident. I'm sure that Dr. Heron will take care of your interns for the day. If I see you trying to be a doctor, I'll put you on Clinic duty for a month. Do I make myself clear, Karev?"

"Yes, Dr. Bailey," Alex said, looking properly chastised.

"Are you okay," Nikkos asked, coming down the hall. Gwen turned and hugged her boyfriend. "Everything will be alright." 

Alex glared at him. Lexie came out of their father's hospital room. "Dr. Shepard will be out to talk to you in a moment," she said before walking off.

"Derek is a neurologist," Gwen said, "what does that have to do with Dad?"

"I don't know," Alex said, quietly.

Nikkos' pager went off. "I have to go. I'll find you later," he said, kissing her quickly before running off. Alex glared at him as he past.

"What was that," Gwen asked.

"What?"

"What's with the face? What happened," she clarified.

"Don't worry about it," Alex responded as Derek came out into the hallway.

"Aw, Hell," Gwen said.

ALEXALEXALEX

Gwen found her brother in the tunnels, sprawled across a gurney. Derek had been very apologetic and thorough with his explanation of what was happening to their father. The valve replacement was still doing well. However, the cancer had continued to spread and Edward Karev didn't have much time left.

She grabbed his legs and held them up, hopping up onto the gurney. One of his legs fell back down onto her lap and the other one hung over the side. Alex sighed. "What?"

"I'm not used to this," he said. "Having you here and having Dad around." He sighed again. "Not that I don't want to have you here," he said, "I almost want you to stay in Seattle, but I know that we both have our own lives. I just . . . I don't know."

Gwen patted his leg. "This is weird for everyone," she said, "including your friends. How do you think I feel having Nikkos around when I've been spending most of my time with you and your friends? It's weird."

"Have you talked to him," Alex asked, glad that he was lying down and not able to see her. He didn't want to lie to her, he had never really lied to her, but he wouldn't tell her what he knew – what Nikkos had said - if he didn't have to. Not today, at least.

"Not since we saw him outside of Dad's room," she said. "Why?"

Alex didn't say anything. A lie of omission was a lie none-the-less and Alex hated to lie. The two of them had always been so open to each other and now Alex was going to have a secret. He _hated_ secrets. Not telling Gwen about most of the happenings in his life in Seattle was a silent agreement between the two of them. She didn't tell him about Chicago or Nikkos after all.

"Nikkos is taking a job in Texas," Gwen said suddenly, relieving Alex of his burden. "He doesn't think I know, but I do. He also doesn't think I'd go and he might be right." Gwen looked at him. "I thought he was going to propose, but he really doesn't want me to go with him. I don't know when he and I got so messed up."

Alex reclaimed his legs and sat up.

"He told you, didn't he," she asked.

He nodded.

Gwen gulped. "I think he found Dad so I'd come see you. I think Nikkos wants me to be taken care of. Not that I can't take care of myself or anything, that's just how he is."

"That's just how he is," Alex asked, glad they weren't going to talk about their Dad. "Accepting a job in another state and _hoping_ your girlfriend of two years doesn't want to tag along. He's a _great_ guy, Gwen."

She rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. "He's a brilliant surgeon, though." And then she didn't say anything for a while. She was thinking. She thought it was ironic that she had found the letter from Dr. Robert Pinafore, offering him the Head of Cardio job until he retired in a couple of years, before Nikkos said anything. At first, Gwen had been happy. Texas was a chance to immerse herself into a new culture and find new muses in everyday life of the people around her. She had been ecstatic at the idea of moving the next book to Texas to mirror her own life. Then, last week, she had over heard Nikkos telling his Mother he planned on moving to Texas alone. His mother had argued with him but ultimately agreed that it wouldn't be fair to her, Gwen, to be stuck in a new place by herself.

Gwen had been upset. Shouldn't the decision to move be hers? And recently she had come to the conclusion that Nikkos didn't _want_ her anymore and moving to Texas was just a lame excuse to end a relationship that no longer worked. They cared for each other, sure, but it wasn't what it used to be.

"So close to Christmas, too," Gwen said, aloud, suddenly.

"What," Alex asked.

"Breaking up so close to Christmas," Gwen explained. "If I do it now, maybe he can be back in Chicago to spend some time with his family. It's only fair since I'm spending Christmas with you."

"What are you talking about," Alex asked, not sure what his sister was thinking.

"I have to go find Nikkos," Gwen said, hopping off the gurney. "Everything else will fall into place," she said, leaving the tunnels, "it always does."

_ALEXALEXALEX_

Alex found Gwen in their Father's room. Edward Karev was now intubated and on a feeding tube. Derek was very clear that their father might not wake up. He was no longer stable enough to transport back to the treatment center. Derek told them that, if they wanted to, they could try right after Christmas to transport him back. Alex had just come from talking to Chief Webber who told him that Nikkos Rowan had left town. The Chief wasn't sure if the doctor had talked to Gwen or not before leaving. Alex wasn't sure himself since when he found Gwen she was silently crying.

"Gwennie."

"Yeah," she said, quickly trying to wipe away her tears.

"What happened," he asked, not really wanting to know.

"We decided to go separate ways," she said. "You know, after I confronted him about his moving to Texas and not really wanting me to go. He told me that he had talked to you and he really was going to propose but he's glad he didn't because we both would have been miserable."

Alex sighed. "I told him not to screw up Christmas."

"What does he have to do with Christmas," Gwen asked. "I'm still staying unless you don't want me around either."

Alex laughed, although it was forced. "Don't ever think that," he said, "not even if I'm mad and tell you that. I won't mean it."

"You rarely say things you don't mean."

He nodded. "True enough." He sat down beside her. "What are we going to do with him?"

Gwen shrugged. "I don't know. Send him back? God, that sounds horrible." Gwen took a deep breathe. "We're horrible children, aren't we? People should be with their loved ones when they go and we went to send him back to a treatment center."

Alex bit his bottom lip, contemplating his answer. "He's our father. We call him Dad but he wasn't really . . . anything. We shouldn't feel bad about this. We have every right in the world to write him off and never think about him again, but . . ."

"Demons," Gwen supplied. Alex nodded. "So," she said, smiling, "we aren't doing this for him. We're doing it for ourselves."

"Yep," Alex said, "completely self-serving." They sat there for a while, just staring at their father. "Let's go," he said, "Izzie wants to make cookies and make sure that all the presents get wrapped."

Gwen laughed. "Sounds like fun."

A/N: Thanks for reading. Reviews are always appreciated. I don't reply back to them often, because I really don't know what to say except Thanks, which I try to say when I post. That's my reasoning as stupid as it is. I see a few more Chapters in this story yet, so hold on. I have some loose ends to tie up. I say that now, but you never know.


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter Thirteen_

It was Christmas Eve. Alex had gone with Gwen the night before to check her out of the Archfield and to move her stuff to Meredith's house. He had once again slept on the couch (thankfully it was a comfortable couch) and when he woke up Izzie was in his arms. He would have to talk to Lexie soon and clear the air. Just like the morning before, Alex got up, was laughed at in the kitchen, and went to get coffee. He left a mug for Izzie and ran upstairs. He didn't have to work until later on in the day so he figured he'd spend some time with Gwen because he didn't know how long she was staying.

His sister's cell phone started ringing. Not wanting to wake his sister up yet, he set the coffee down, grabbed the phone off the nightstand, and answered it. "Hello," he said quietly, moving to the hallway.

"Dr. Karev," a voice questioned.

"Yes."

"This is Nikkos Rowan," the voice continued. "I just wanted to let Gwen know that I got back okay and I'll be out of the apartment before she gets back." Alex sighed. Gwen had been acting as if she were okay was the demise of her relationship, but Alex knew better.

"I'll let her know," Alex replied.

"Could you also, maybe, tell her that I'm really sorry about how things turned out," Nikkos said.

"Yeah, I suppose," Alex said.

"And tell her Merry Christmas, would you?"

"Fine, yeah, anything else," Alex asked, getting ticked.

"No, I think that's it," Nikkos said. "Look after her for me, will you?"

"Oh, I'll look after her alright and it'll have nothing to do with you," Alex said and then hung up. To think his sister had actually wanted to marry the guy! He went back into his room and put her phone back on the stand. Izzie had to work this morning and he needed to talk to Lexie. And his father, he really needed to figure out what to do.

Before Gwen had found Edward Karev, Alex very rarely thought of the man. Okay, so that wasn't totally true. He thought of him when that family came in and it was beyond obvious that the father was abusing the mother and possibly the kid. Alex knew exactly what the kid had been going through and was oddly proud when the kid stood up to his mother. Alex felt that he was doing all he could for his father but if someone had asked him to donate a kidney he was fairly sure he'd tell them no.

"Hey," Gwen said, waking up. "Do you have to work again?"

"Not until later," he said. "Um, I think everyone has to work at some point today, but there should be someone home."

"I'm more than capable of taking care of myself Alex," Gwen said, getting out of the bed, "but thank you. Are you going to see Dad today?"

"I'll probably check in on him, yeah," Alex said, pulling clothes out of his dresser. "Did you and Izzie have fun yesterday?" 

"We did," she nodded.

"Let's go get some breakfast."

Brother and sister went downstairs to find the kitchen crowded.

"See, this is why we need our own place," Derek was saying as he tried to walk around Lexie and George standing in the middle of the kitchen.

"I have a perfectly nice place right here, Derek," Meredith said, standing beside Izzie at the stove.

"Yes, but . . ." 

"Can it, McDreamy," Cristina said, "she doesn't want to move right now." She took a bite of cookie. "God, Izzie, these are great."

"Gwen helped," Izzie said, absently.

"I did, it was fun," Gwen said. Everyone stopped and looked towards the doorway where Alex and Gwen were standing taking in the sight before them.

"Great," Izzie smiled, "I'm planning on making some more tonight. Does anyone know how to cook a ham?"

"I do," Gwen said. "Do you have one yet? I prefer cooking the ham slices but it wouldn't be hard either way."

"Okay, well, I have to go to work right now but I'll drop by later and we can go shopping," Izzie said. "Everyone eat."

Everyone else left, except Lexie, who was doing something in the den. While Lexie was busy, Gwen roped her brother in to helping her wrap presents for everyone since it hadn't got done the night before. "I wrapped what I got you last night," she told him, "but the rest of them are for your friends."

"Put your name on them, too," Alex said, frowning as Gwen finished filling out a label.

"Why?"

"Because you picked them out," Alex said, "they can be from both of us."

Gwen rolled her eyes and tracked down the presents that they already wrapped and added her name. "So, what's going on with you and Izzie?"

"What?"

Gwen smiled. "Duh, everyone's figured it out," she said, "so spill already."

Alex took a deep breath. "We dated once and I freaked out. Izzie found me in an on-call room with a nurse." Gwen raised an eyebrow at him. "Anyway, we've been off since then. We're friends and stuff, but it wasn't the same. Do you think she's forgiven me?"

"I imagine she has," Gwen said, wrapping up their gift to the Chief of Surgery.

"How many people did we buy for," he asked, looking at all the boxes around them.

"Everyone that will be here for Christmas dinner," Gwen said. "Izzie insisted." All rolled his eyes. "Alright, so, you like her again?"

"Never quit," he said. Gwen shook her head. "What now?"

"Sometimes I think you're crazy," she said. "What did Nikkos have to say?" She laughed at the look on Alex's face. "Like I couldn't hear you," she admonished with a laugh. "So, what did he have to say?"

"Just that he got back to Chicago okay and then he would be gone before you got back," Alex said, since she asked. "He also said that he was sorry and Merry Christmas." Gwen nodded. "Are you alright," Alex sighed. She shrugged. "If I ever see that bastard again, I'm going to kill him," he said.

"That's a wonderful Christmas spirit you have there, Alex," Gwen said, yawning. "I'm going to go see Dad when you go in to work and then I can come back with Izzie or someone. That's the plan anyway."

There was a knock on the door.

Alex got up and opened the door. Lexie stood there. "Could I talk to you," Lexie asked, "you know downstairs or something?" Alex nodded and followed her down the stairs. They went to the den, Lexie closing the door behind them. "You don't really like me," Lexie said.

"I don't?"

"No, not really," she said. "We could be friends but you don't like me the way you like Izzie so there's no reason to pretend otherwise." She stayed quiet for a moment. "George and I are going to be looking for an apartment after Christmas. I can't live with my father anymore. It's. . ."

"Lexie," he said, cutting her off, "I may not care for you like I care for Izzie but I still care. If your father ever . . . just let me know if you need help, okay?" She nodded. "I'm sure there's more we should talk about but I have to get ready for work." She nodded again. Alex ran upstairs to take a shower before going in to the hospital. He was glad that was mostly straightened out. There was still stuff that they both needed to talk about if either one of them were interested in talking about it. He was going to go in early so he could see his Dad with Gwen.

"That's an idea," Gwen said as Alex entered the kitchen, freshly showered.

"What's an idea," he asked, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl.

"Lexie was just telling me that she and George O'Malley were going to look for an apartment and we both thought that if I stayed around that maybe I could look with them," Gwen told him.

"You'd really move to Seattle," Alex asked.

"There's no real reason to stay in Chicago," Gwen said shrugging. "You don't like the idea," she asked.

"Let's get through Christmas first," Alex said, leading her out the door. "Lexie do you need a ride to the hospital?" She shook her head. "Later," he called back as they left.

ALEXALEXALEX

Izzie and Gwen entered the house with Derek behind them. "I'm going to grab a few hours of sleep," Derek said, going up the stairs. He had followed them to the grocery store and helped them pick over what was left in the grocery store for Christmas dinner.

"How many people again," Izzie asked as they unpacked the many bags they bought.

"Fourteen," Gwen repeated patiently.

"I'm an idiot," Izzie said, "I don't know what I'm doing."

"Walter will be here in the morning," Gwen told her, "and Dr. Bailey said that she cooks well. I'll be there to help you. Everything will be fine, okay?"

Izzie nodded but she didn't look convinced.

Gwen laughed. "Everything will be fine, Izzie. I wouldn't lie to you." They put most of the groceries away. "So, are we making cookies or what?"

ALEXALEXALEX

When Meredith and Cristina got home, they found the kitchen a mess. White powder covered the floor and counter. Bags of stuff were all over the place. Then they heard giggling. They found Izzie and Gwen on the floor behind the island with a bottle of tequila between them.

"I see someone hasn't learned their lesson," Meredith said, smiling down at them.

"Men suck," Gwen announced. Izzie nodded, agreeing. "Gwen thinks that men suck all around."

"Izzie agrees," Izzie said and then started laughing.

"What are you two on," Cristina asked, grabbing a cookie from the plate.

"Izzie and Gwen made those for dinner tomorrow, Cristina," Izzie said.

"Yeah, Izzie and Gwen made those," Gwen echoed.

"What _are_ you on," Meredith questioned. "Didn't Izzie do this before?"

"Her and Evil Spawn," Cristina said, nodding. "You were doing the bright and shining thing – again."

"Thanks," Meredith said, dryly.

"Here, have a drink," Gwen said, passing the nearly empty tequila bottle to Meredith.

"Don't mind if I do," Meredith said, sitting down beside Gwen. "C'mon Cristina, it's Christmas and it's time to get drunk."

_A/N: I've actually had this chapter down a couple of days ago but I wasn't happy with it. Since I can't figure out what's "wrong" I've decided to post it and hope for the best. This story isn't turning out the way I thought it would . . . but it will be okay. Thanks for reading!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Chapter Fourteen_

It was close to midnight and Alex Karev was sitting in his father's hospital room. He had watched earlier when Gwen had sat beside their father, holding his hand, and talking quietly to him. They had discussed the possibility of calling their mother and then had decided against it. Their parents were still legally married, although separated.

Gwen had long since left with Izzie to go back home and Alex wondered idly if his parents even cared about each other or if they ever really had. What made two people – so incredibly miserable – decide to get married _and_ reproduce?

"Hey," George said from the doorway.

"Hey."

"How's he doing?"

"About the same," Alex said.

"It'll be hard at first," George said quietly, "but it eventually gets better, hurts less at least." Alex nodded, not wanting to say anything. "I heard your sister's boyfriend left."

"Yeah, they broke up," Alex said, wondering why O'Malley was talking to him _now_.

"You and Izzie doing okay?"

"We haven't really talked about where we're going," he said, finding the subject easier to discuss.

"We haven't always gotten along," George said, "but I want you to know that I'm going to be there for Izzie, as a friend. I don't want that to be a problem."

"It won't be," Alex sighed. "I get it. Don't worry." Alex wasn't exactly lying, either. He did get it. George and Izzie were best friends . . . who had had sex . . . sex that had caused the end of George's marriage. Not that Alex thought that George was good enough for Callie Torres anyway, but that wasn't any of his concern. "You want a ride home," Alex asked after a while.

"Sure, thanks." George stood there for a few minutes more. "See you later."

"See ya."

ALEXALEXALEX

The girls were still up when Alex and George made it through the door at six A.M. "What are you people doing," George asked, watching them all giggling on the kitchen floor, passing around a bottle of tequila.

"Drinking," they said, causing them all to giggle.

"Good morning," Derek said, walking into the kitchen. He looked at the pile of women on the kitchen floor. "I'll make coffee."

"Where's Lexie," Alex asked, looking around.

"Didn't she work last night?"

Alex shook his head. "I don't think so."

"I didn't see her last night," Derek said, filling the pot up with water, "but I apparently didn't hear the gaggle of giggling girls either. I must have slept hard."

George retrieved his cell phone and called her. "No answer," he said. "Maybe she went to her Dad's."

"Thatcher is an ass," Meredith said, hiccupping.

"McAss," Cristina corrected.

"Alex," Gwen said, finally realizing her brother was there, "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Gwennie," he said, shaking his head. "Remember what I said about puking," he reminded her as he pulled her to her feet. She closed her eyes against the dizziness. "Why don't you go upstairs for a few hours and get some sleep?" He turned to Izzie. "When should you guys start cooking dinner?"

"I don't know," Izzie said, lying back on the floor.

"When are we eating," Gwen asked, sounding tired.

"When are we eating," Alex repeated to everyone else. He was answered with a series of shrugs and grunts. "Alright, when is everyone else getting here?"

"Joe and Walter are coming around one, with the babies," George said.

"I think everyone else is coming later in the evening," Derek said.

"Alright, Gwen, let's get you upstairs so you can cook later," Alex said. He put his arm around her waist and helped her to walk upstairs. The stairs proved to be too much so he picked her up and carried her. Alex smiled at his sister. She had fallen asleep before he set her down. He slipped her shoes off and covered her up. He was glad that she was around and kind of hoped she _stayed_ around.

When he came out of his room, he saw Derek coming out of Meredith's room. "Is she finally getting some sleep," he asked.

Derek nodded. "Cristina insisted on walking by herself but Meredith needed some help. I'm surprised, she usually holds her liquor better," he said, not able to help his smile. Alex smiled back. "Izzie is still downstairs," Derek commented. "She's trying to tell George something." Alex nodded and went downstairs.

Izzie was laughing, hysterically, when Alex entered the kitchen. "Izzie," George said, trying to get her to calm down. "Izzie? Iz? What are you trying to say? Take a deep breath. Izzie?"

"Alex," Izzie said, happily through several deep breaths.

"Izzie," Alex said. "Are you alright," he smiled.

"Yes," she said as he knelt down. "I'm great."

George slowly backed out of the room. Sleep sounded good right about now. He idly wondered about Lexie while he got his sleeping bag spread out.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Alex was trying to figure out what Izzie wanted to say. Deciding it was best to try and get some sleep, Alex helped Izzie up (he felt he'd been helping Gwen and Izzie a lot lately, but he didn't mind – not really) and got her upstairs so she could sleep in her own bed.

"Wait," she said, after he put her cover over her, "don't leave." She had stopped laughing. "Stay here," she said, pulling on his arm.

Alex didn't need much encouragement. He slipped his shoes off and slid in beside her, carefully wrapping her in his arms.

ALEXALEXALEX

Izzie and Alex woke up, once again neither one of them mentioning the fact that has slept in each other's arms, and went to the kitchen they found Gwen cooking with the help of Walter and Bailey.

"That smells great, Dr. Bailey," Gwen said as Alex and Izzie entered the kitchen.

"Call me Miranda, Gwen," Bailey said, "you aren't a doctor."

The door bell rang. "I'll get it," George said, jumping up.

"Look who finally woke up," Gwen chuckled. Neither Izzie nor Alex had changed or straightened themselves up before coming downstairs. Gwen bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing anymore.

George reentered the kitchen with the Chief of Surgery and the Head of Plastics trailing behind him. "We invited Dr. Hahn as well," Dr. Webber said, hanging up his coat. "I hope that isn't a problem. Well, that smells wonderful."

"It shouldn't be a problem. I think we made more than enough," Gwen quipped, grinning. "We'll have to find some extra seating, though. And dinner will be a little while yet," she said, "what do you guys usually do when you're waiting for a holiday meal?" That got the ball rolling, figuratively speaking, of course. Everyone had stories to tell and memories to share, no one more than Derek Shepard and Mark Sloan, who had shared many holidays together with the Shepards.

"When Derek's sister Emma was, oh, I think six, Derek told her that Santa didn't exist," Mark said.

"I did not, that was Kathleen's boyfriend at the time," Derek defended. "What was his name? Greg? Gary?"

"Melvin," Mark said, causing the both of them to laugh. "Anyway, she ran and told Mom," he continued, "who yelled at Derek for days."

"I didn't do that," Derek told him.

"I believe you," Meredith said, kissing his cheek.

Derek smiled. "See, Meredith believes me," Derek said. "And you knew that guy's name." He pointed at Mark. "And I wasn't the one the year after that to tell her that the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy were dating and too busy to come visit her when she lost a tooth!"

Mark howled. "She was always too smart for any of that, anyway. Remember when Nancy found Dad's scotch?"

Derek nodded, smiling. "That was the first of many meetings of the Secret Scotch Society."

"The first meeting of what," Izzie asked.

"The Secret Scotch Society," Derek said. "Dad was a big single malt scotch drinker," he explained.

"Well, _that_ explains a heck of a lot," Meredith said, grinning.

"Anyway, he passed away and a few Christmases later, Nancy found his scotch in the den," Derek told them. "Every year on Christmas Eve we used to get together in the den and each of us would have a scotch. When Tessa and Emma were older, then joined us, but before that it was just Kathleen, Nancy, Mark, and me."

"Remember the first time we got drunk," Mark asked, a reminiscent look on his face. "Man, those were some great times."

There was a knock on the door.

"Dr. Hahn," George said, opening the door, "come in." There was a pause. "Callie?" The three of them came into the kitchen.

"Well, isn't this lovely," Erica Hahn said sarcastically. "I've brought along Torres since she couldn't make it home to Florida," she said. "I hope that's okay."

Izzie gulped. Fifteen people? She looked over at Gwen who took it all in stride.

"Dr. Karev, I stopped by the hospital to check on your father," Dr. Hahn said, accepting a glass of wine. Miranda harrumphed at her and turned back to the dinner she was helping to prepare. "I'm sorry he isn't doing well."

Alex shrugged, causing his sister to laugh. Smiling affectionately at her brother, she turned back to the meal they were cooking, instructing Izzie on the vegetables.

Dr. Hahn exchanged a confused look with Callie, who shrugged.


	15. Chapter 15

_Chapter Fifteen_

Izzie and Gwen were gushing over Joe and Walter's kids. "We never would have thought in a million years that two bar-owning-gay-guys would be picked as adoptive parents."

"What," Gwen asked, looking shocked, "you two are gay?" Alex started laughing from the kitchen. "Just kidding, guys," Gwen said. "Quit laughing at me, Alex." The laughing stopped.

"Where's the other Grey," Erica asked, walking into the living room with a very large glass of bourbon.

"I'm not sure where Lexie is," Izzie said. "Hey, Mer, where's Lexie?"

"I don't know," Meredith said, coming down the stairs. "You mean no one's heard from her yet? Has anyone checked the hospital?"

"I'll go," Alex said.

Gwen glared at him.

"I'll check on Dad while I'm there," he said, "is that better?" Gwen shrugged and went back to tickling the baby in her lap. "I'll call everyone when I find something out," he said.

"Alex, catch," Gwen said. Alex turned around in time to catch a set of keys that Gwen threw at him. "Take the rental and be careful." He nodded and was gone.

ALEXALEXALEX

On a whim, Alex turned away from the hospital and headed to Thatcher's house. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, the same feeling he used to get before his father came home drunk and lost all his money and took it out on his mother. Maybe he should have brought Gwen with him . . . if Thatcher had done _anything_ to Lexie, the man wouldn't make it to the hospital alive.

He turned the car off and looked around. The lights in the house were on. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe Lexie was at the hospital. Alex opened the door and slid out of the vehicle, leaving the keys inside. He was glad he remembered to grab his jacket although he had forgotten his gloves. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked up to the door. He knocked twice and then shoved his hand back into the warmth of his pocket.

Alex waited for two minutes before knocking again. There had been no answer and no movement inside. He took the time after he knocked again to look in through the windows, in case he could see anything.

It was worse than he expected. Possibly, because he was hoping that his feeling was wrong.

Lexie lay on the floor. There was blood on the floor and the nearby wall. A broken crystal clock lay broken nearby. It was freaking Christmas! Alex went back to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. Damn! Alex took a couple of deep breaths and tried to think. He needed to get the door open. Lexie needed to get to the hospital. Meredith would kill him if he let her die. Biting his bottom lip and hoping no one on the street was looking out their window, Alex took a few steps back and threw his weight against the door with a running start. The door rattled but hadn't budged.

Two tries later, Alex succeeded. The door flung open. "Lexie," Alex yelled, running to the living room. "Lexie," he said, kneeling down beside her, "Lexie, can you hear me?" She was breathing and had a steady pulse but she wasn't responded. He grabbed a blanket off the back of the nearby sofa and wrapped it around Lexie, picking her up. He had to get her to the hospital.

He called the ER as he drove away.

"Olivia, it's Alex Karev," he said into his cell phone as he drove towards the hospital, just over the speed limit. "I have Lexie Grey with me," he told her, "she's badly hurt. Have a gurney and a team meet me in the ER. I'm about five minutes out. And no Interns, they don't need to be working on one of their own." He hung up, not waiting to answer any of the questions that she threw him. "Hold on, Lexie," he said to her, glancing at her using the review mirror. She was still breathing . . . thank the powers that be (whoever they are) that she was still breathing.

Realizing that they would probably call Shepard in anyway, Alex called Izzie.

"Did you find Lexie," Izzie asked by way of greeting.

"Yeah," he said, "have Shepard meet us in the ER and call the cops to check out Thatcher's place. There's, well, there was blood on the floor. She's breathing and stable as far as I can tell, I'll know more when we get to the hospital."

"ER? Cops? What happened?"

"I don't know, Iz," he said, "just have Shepard meet us." He hung up the phone on concentrated on driving as he continued to talk to Lexie. Before he knew it, they were at the hospital.

A small group of second and third year residents met them at the doors. He tossed the keys to a nearby intern. "Park the car," he told them, "and give the keys to my sister when she gets here. Where's Shepard?"

"Right here," Derek said, running over. "Lexie Grey, can you hear me," Derek asked. No response. "Everyone is waiting outside," Derek said to Alex, "and they sent some officers over, too. You should go talk to them."

"But . . ."

"We're fine, Dr. Karev," Derek said, firmly, "let's get her to CT." Derek and the gathered residents moved the gurney out of the ER.

Alex waited a couple of minutes before tracking everyone down. He didn't have to go far. Everyone that had been at Meredith's house was now standing outside of the ER. Gwen sighed, seeing the look on her brother's face.

"How is she," Meredith asked. "What's wrong? Is she okay?"

"Shepard took her to get a CT," Alex said.

Richard Webber put a comforting hand on Meredith's shoulder before heading towards CT to see if he could help out, Mark trailing behind him.

"Everything will be okay," Izzie said, hugging Meredith. "She's tough, like you, she'll be fine."

Meredith had just started to really get to know her sister and now she might lose her. _Typical_, Meredith thought. "Someone should call her sister," Meredith said, "someone should call Molly."

"I'll do it," Bailey said. "All of you stay out of the way," she said to her former interns, "I mean it."

"I'm going to see if I can help," Callie said after exchanging a look with George.

"I'll, uh, go check up on Mr. Karev," Hahn said, needing an excuse to get away.

"It was her father, wasn't it," Gwen asked, quietly, gripping Meredith's hand in silent comfort. Alex sighed. He had shared his concerns with Gwen the other night. Thatcher Grey was an unstable, drunk man at the best of times these days.

"I think he might have thrown a clock at her," Alex said, quietly. "I should talk to the police. Where are they?" George pointed the way and followed behind him.

"I can't believe he had the nerve to hit _my_ intern," Cristina said after a few moments of silence, "he better hope I don't get my hands on _him_."

ALEXALEXALEX

When Lexie Grey came to, she immediately wished she hadn't. There was pain pounding behind her eyes and in the back of her head. She closed her eyes against the blinding light and moaned.

"Dr. Grey," the Chief's deep voice asked, penetrating the fog Lexie was floating in, "can you hear me?"

"Yes," Lexie whispered. "Where am I?"

"You're getting a CT, Dr. Grey," the Chief said. "Hold still just a little while longer, we're just about done."

"Alright," she said, taking a deep breath. The last thing she remembered was her Dad yelling and Lexie telling him she was going out – someplace she was wanted – for Christmas.

"Hey, Lexie," Derek said. Lexie looked over, barely opening her eyes. "We're going to take care of you," he said, "okay?" She nodded, which was harder than it sounded. "Okay, on my count," he said. Lexie felt herself move and took a deep breath against the nausea that assaulted her.

Derek shared a concern look with Richard and Mark before the three of them moved her to a patient room to be admitted.

ALEXALEXALEX

After Alex got done talking to the cops, Izzie, Gwen, and George said they were going back to the house and bring dinner to Lexie and everyone else.

"I knew how he was acting," Meredith said, unexpectedly. She'd been quiet and she was getting paler by the minute. "I should have never let her go back there alone."

"Get off it, Grey," Alex said. "Thatcher was a relatively harmless guy for the most part," he told, although he had trouble believing it, "it's one of those 'wrong place at the wrong time' things."

Bailey walked up. "I called your other sister," she said. "She's going to get her mother-in-law to watch the baby and then she'll be coming up." Meredith nodded. "Have the police found him," Bailey asked Alex.

"No, not yet," Alex said.

"The chief is letting Cristina help with Lexie," Bailey told them. "I know you two are supposed to be off, but do you want something to do?"

Alex and Meredith exchanged glances. Bailey was reaching out to them the best way she knew how. "Maybe we could help in the clinic for a while," Meredith suggested, quietly.

"Go change," Bailey said. "I'll page you if anything happens." They nodded and went off towards the locker room.

"Gwen's going to be mad at you," Meredith said, as they changed into scrubs.

Alex shrugged. "It wouldn't be the first time. Where are Joe and Walter?"

"Took the babies home," Meredith told him. "We're supposed to call them later, after Joe opens the bar." Alex nodded and grabbed his stethoscope. The trip to the clinic was silent and short. Alex sighed. The clinic was . . . empty.

A half an hour later, George and Izzie walked in.

"What's going on," Izzie asked, sitting down on a bed beside Alex.

"Bailey asked us if we wanted something to do," Alex said, as Izzie grabbed his hand and held it in her lap with both of hers, "and Meredith volunteered us for the clinic." He glared playfully at Meredith who threw her hands up in mock surrender.

"At least I had an idea," she said, laughing.

"The chief commandeered a conference room," George said, "we brought dinner. The Chief said after Lexie was stable that we should continue with our dinner."

Meredith bit her bottom lip.

"She'll be fine, Mer," Alex said, sincerely. Meredith nodded. "Where did Gwen go?"

"With Joe and Walter to help out at the bar," George answered. "Joe said that they would be busy tonight, being a holiday and all."

Alex nodded. "Merry_freaking_ Christmas."


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: There's a big **Izzie/Alex** moment coming your way . . . enjoy!

_Chapter Sixteen_

The clinic was closed for the night and Lexie was resting comfortably upstairs in a private room. Everyone had nibbled off and on their dinner through the night. Izzie was surprised their crock pots had kept the food as well as it did.

Meredith and Cristina decided to stay with Lexie while Alex, Izzie, and George went across the street to update Joe, Walter, and Gwen. "How's she doing," Joe asked as soon as they got close to the bar.

"She has a concussion and her left arm is broken," George said, sitting down.

"Does anyone know what happened," he asked as Gwen came around the bar.

"What's going on," Gwen asked, uncapping three beers and placing them on a tray.

"Lexie has a concussion and a broken arm," Joe filled her in. "Does anyone know what happened," Joe repeated.

"The police are looking into it," Izzie said. "Gwen, what are you doing?"

"Helping," the younger Karev said, smiling brightly and then walked off to deliver the beers.

"She makes a mean tequila sunrise," Joe said, pointing to a group of nurses at a nearby booth. Alex turned around and immediately noticed the colorful drinks each of them had. Joe smiled. "I might have to kidnap her, Alex," Joe said, "you better watch out."

"No need to kidnap her, Joe," Alex said, smiling back, "she might stick around if you ask her."

"No kidding," Joe said.

Alex started tapping his foot on the floor. Seeing Lexie on the floor, unmoving and bleeding, had been like finding Gwen the day his father left. It was strikingly similar, actually, and the realization that he could have lost his sister all those years ago caused him to shiver. He was swathed in a rush of anger so sudden he nearly fell off his stool. How in the Hell do people rationalize their actions? Do they even try? Alex was angry – more than angry, he was livid, enraged, furious, fuming, irate. No word seemed to describe the emotions boiling underneath the surface. He was mad at his father; he was mad at Thatcher. Being drunk was no excuse! Being drunk was not a reason!

He threw back the last of his beer and grabbed his coat. No one said anything as he marched out of the bar. Izzie and Gwen shared a worried gaze before Gwen nodded, urging Izzie to go after her brother. Grabbing her coat, Izzie raced out the door.

"Alex," Izzie called out, trying to catch up with him. "Alex, wait," she yelled. He stopped and she hurried to his side. "Alex, what's wrong," Izzie asked. She didn't quite understand. Things had been going well, everyone had been laughing, and then Alex had gotten a look on his face and rushed out of the bar. "Where are you going?"

"To talk to my father," Alex spat. Izzie stepped back from him, a shocked look on his face.

"Why," she asked, genuinely interested.

"He's not going to be around for too much longer," Alex said, calmly, "so if I want some answers, I have to get them now. Go back inside, Iz, I'll be back soon."

"I'm coming with you," she said, buttoning her coat. "Let's go."

Alex was surprised when Izzie crossed the parking lot and got into his unlocked car that George had brought to the hospital earlier. Alex hesitated for a couple seconds before following her across the parking lot and sliding into the driver's seat. A quick drive across the street to the hospital later and Alex was losing his nerve. His father was dying and hadn't even been conscious earlier in the day when Dr. Hahn had checked on him.

Alex knew that he was nothing like his father but sometimes he wondered if that was enough. Yes, he drank a little too much from time to time and yes, his temper sometimes got the best of him. Alex hadn't always made the best decisions in his life, either, especially in college. He had graduated by the skin of his teeth and had been more surprised than anyone else had that he had been accepted to Med School at all.

"Are we going in," Izzie asked.

Alex looked at her. She was more beautiful than anyone had a right to be. She was so beautiful and yet . . . yet she _wanted_ him. A warm feeling spread outward from his heart.

"Yeah, let's go in," he said, "just for a few minutes." She nodded and got out of the car, finding Alex waiting for her with his hand outstretched. She smiled at him, wrapped her hand in his, and led the way inside.

ALEXALEXALEX

Gwen was helping Joe and the guys in the kitchen clean up when her cell phone rang. "Hello," she answered as she helped to wipe down tables.

"Gwendolyn," a vaguely familiar voice asked.

"Yes," Gwen responded, throwing the cloth she was using into the nearby bucket of water as she wiped her hands off on her jeans.

"I'm not sure if you remember me," the man continued, "but this is Charlie Stahler."

"Charlie as in Dad's old drummer Charlie," she asked.

"Yes," he laughed, "as in Charlie who taught you to ride a motorcycle Charlie."

Gwen laughed. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, honey, and how are you?"

So that's what he was calling about, she thought. "You heard about Dad," she ventured.

"I did," he said. "How's he holding up?"

"You'd have to ask Alex for sure," Gwen said, "but I don't think he's doing too well. You know all that medical talk goes right over my head."

"Oh, I don't believe that," he said, teasingly.

Gwen laughed. "I'm telling you," she insisted. Charlie laughed.

"My niece, Abby, gave me your number," Charlie said. "You remember Abby Rhodes, don't you?"

"Of course," Gwen said, "how's she doing?" Abby had been a grade ahead of her in school and they had both been in the marching band together.

"She now owns the bar that your father and I used to play at," Charlie said proudly, "that's why I'm calling actually. The rest of us still play together, you know, and when we heard old Eddie was sick well we thought we'd bring him home."

Gwen frowned. They hadn't told anyone from Iowa that he was sick. Gwen didn't care where her father went. That wasn't true, but it made her feel better for a second to think so. "Okay," she replied slowly. What did he want? Permission?

"So you would be okay with that," Charlie asked her.

Ah ha, he was looking for permission.

"I'd have to talk to Alex about," she said. "Um, Charlie, how did you hear about Dad?"

"An old friend of his stopped by the bar yesterday to tell us," he said, hesitantly. "Anyway, the guys and I were thinking about coming out to Seattle to at least see him if not bring him home, you know, if it's possible. We can be there by morning."

"He was in a coma last I checked," Gwen said, "but you're more than welcome to come visit him."

"Great, I'll see you and Alex in the morning," Charlie said, sounding happy again. They talked about a time and hung up.

Gwen got busy helping to clean up the bar so she could cross the street to pick up her rental and talk to Alex.

ALEXALEXALEX

Alex sat in a chair beside his father's bed. He had left Izzie with Meredith and Cristina in Lexie's room. Nurse Tyler had come by a few moments ago to tell him his father had woken up from his coma, which Alex had read on his chart, and was no longer intubated. He told him that his father was now sleeping and that the oncologist would be around in the morning to talk with him and his sister. Alex resisted the urge to shake the old man awake.

"Hey," Alex said, when he saw his father's eyes open.

Edward turned his head and looked at his son, a ghost of a smile on his face. "Son."

Alex nodded.

They sat in silence. His father was weak from his fight with the cancer. His voice was harsh and scratchy. Alex was surprised that his father had woken up at all. "They're trying a new therapy," he said, slowly. Alex just looked at him. Who had authorized that? "I told the oncologist yesterday to do whatever he needed to do to keep me around a while longer," he said, "so I can spend time with my kids."

Alex nodded again.

"Gwen and I took care of ourselves and each other for almost as long as I can remember," Alex said, staring him down. "You took us to bars when Mom would disappear to keep us occupied. I'm pretty sure Gwen has never realized that Mom would leave for days on end. You know, the two of you really sucked most of the time."

Edward Karev didn't say anything as his son ranted. He figured it was the least he could do, the boy probably had a lot of things he wanted to get off of his chest.

". . . and we still care," Alex was yelling, now standing up and pacing at the end of the bed. ". . . and I don't know why! Why do we care? Sometimes I think it was our fault, that we were bad kids. I sometimes think that we had done something wrong, but I figured it out. It's your fault," he said, pointing at his father, "it wasn't anything we did. You did something wrong and took it out on us."

"You're right," Edward said, "and you two didn't deserve the childhood you were given. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't regret how your mother and I treated you, but I have _never_ regretted the two of you. You and your sister are the best thing I ever did, not that I can take a lot of credit for it."

Alex stopped pacing and looked at his father. "I don't want to care."

"You wouldn't be you if you didn't, Alex," his father said patiently, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Alex," Gwendolyn said, hovering at the door. Alex crossed the room and leaned down, letting his sister whisper to him. He gave his father a confused look as Gwen talked. "I'm going to go talk to Izzie now," Gwen said, loud enough for her father to hear, "I'll see you later. Bye, Dad."

"Charlie Stahler called Gwen," Alex said, coming back into the room and closing the door behind him.

"Why did he call her," his father asked.

"Charlie's daughter, Abby, owns the bar you guys used to play at and your old band wants to take you back to Iowa."

"Oh, well, that will be fun, won't it? Then I can leave you poor kids alone," Edward said.

"If that's what you want," Alex said slowly.

Edward nodded.

"Charlie will be here in the morning," he said, "I'll talk to Shepard or Hahn about getting you released, then. I'll, uh, be by in the morning – with Gwen – to, I don't know, see if off, I guess."

"You kids can always visit me," Edward spoke up before Alex left the room. "In Iowa," he said as Alex turned around, "you know, if you want." Alex shrugged. "Good," Edward smiled, closing his eyes to go to sleep, "good."

A/N: I know that it's been a while, and I apologize, I just couldn't figure out where to go. Well, I picked a direction, and I hope that it wasn't too confusing. I'm hoping to end this story in the next week or two because I already have a sequel in mind (and it's a crazy). I think this story is great, although I'm highly tempted to rewrite the whole thing because this story should be a more angst-filled piece. Oh, well, it's done, that's what I get for writing a chapter at a time instead of writing the whole thing first and then posting it. Enough of my whining, I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are awesome:)


	17. Chapter 17

_Chapter Seventeen_

Alex woke up the next morning in his customary way, with Izzie in his arms. At least they were in her bed and not on the couch, for the rest of the house to see. "We have to get up Alex," Izzie said, when he kissed her. She sighed, giggling, "Seriously! We need to get to the hospital."

"Fine," he smiled.

Izzie slid out of bed. "Wake up," Gwen sung out, pounding on the door, "we have to meet Charlie at the hospital soon."

"We're coming," Izzie said. Alex smiled, watching her get dressed for the day. "And what are you looking at," she asked him, her hands resting on her hips. Alex just continued to smile. Izzie picked up a pair of jeans from the floor and threw it at him. "Get dressed and I'll make muffins."

Alex clambered out of bed and beat her downstairs. When Izzie made it to the kitchen, Alex and Gwen were talking animatedly. "You look nice today, Gwen," Izzie said, commenting on Gwen's black pants suit.

"I have an interview today," Gwen explained. "My agent called late last night, they want to talk about my decision to relocate to Seattle."

"So it's definite then," Meredith asked, pulling a carton of Orange Juice from the fridge.

"No reason not to,"Gwen shrugged. "_And_ it has the added benefit of annoying my brother." Meredith and Izzie laughed.

"George went in early to see Lexie before rounds and Cristina ran off saying she had something to do," Meredith told Izzie as they found something for breakfast.

"Does Derek not stay every night, then," Gwen asked, noticing the absence of the neurosurgeon.

"He was the Attending on call last night," Meredith explained, "but he does spend most of his time off here." Gwen nodded.

"Alright, so my interview is at 11:30," Gwen said, grabbing an apple from the bowl in the middle of the island. "I was thinking maybe the Emerald City Bar," she said, rinsing the piece of fruit, "so if anyone is available to join me, my agent is buying lunch."

Meredith smiled. "Derek is off duty soon, the two of us can join you."

"Great," she said, before taking a bite. "Are we going or what?" Meredith wanted to talk to Gwen about the book she was currently reading, so they took two cars as not to bore Alex and Izzie.

That was fine with Alex, who decided it was time for the two of them to talk about their lack of definition as far as the two of them went.

"Iz," Alex said, after the pulled out of the driveway, "I've noticed something and I think we should talk about it." Alex had to stop himself from laughing, because this wasn't usually how he dealt with things. He was a very straight forward person and he couldn't believe he was stalling.

"What," Izzie asked, digging through her bag for some lip gloss.

"Well, we've been sleeping together at night," he said, and then stopped. "I mean not _sleeping_ together but sleeping beside each other and I . . ."

"Oh my god," Izzie started laughing. "I'm sorry," she said, seeing Alex frown, "but I thought you figured it out." Alex glanced at her and then back at the road as he waited for her to continue.

"I'm in love with you, you idiot," she said, happily, surprised he hadn't noticed. "And I'm really sorry it took me a long time to get to this point, but I do and you're stuck with me."

"Well," he said, smiling, "you won't hear me complaining. Just, don't fall in love with anyone else, okay? I don't think I could take it . . . again." The last word was said so softly that Izzie wasn't sure that she had heard it. She knew in her heart, however, that he had said it and she hadn't realized how hurt he had been by the whole thing. Oh, God, there had been that thing with Denny and that the thing with George . . . and he still loved her.

"I'm sorry," she said, quietly, as they pulled into the hospital parking lot.

"Don't worry about it, Izzie," he said, jumping out of the car. She followed him to the front of the car where he stood, waiting . . . smiling. "I love you, too," he said, grabbing her and claiming her mouth. Their tongues went to battle, trying to gain the upper hand. When they finally came up for air, they did so to cat calls.

A group of residents, interns, nurses, gathered around the other side of the nearby parked car to cheer them on. There were several yells of "about time" and "get a room." Alex looked and saw his sister, standing beside Meredith, smiling like there was no tomorrow. "Alright now, all of you get to work. There are lives to save!" People jumped out of the way to make room for the Chief Resident. "And you two," Miranda Bailey said when she got to the front, "don't screw it up." She smiled and went back into the hospital, talking with Gwen about her new book coming out in a few months.

"Let's go Lovebirds," Meredith said, smiling.

"Oh, Izzie," Alex said as they walked towards the hospital.

"Yeah?" 

"You owe me muffins," he said, causing Izzie to laugh.

ALEXALEXALEX

Alex was still off duty until his father left the hospital, so Sydney Heron had stepped in to take care of his interns. He found Gwen tagging along after Meredith and laughing with George, who looked like crap. "You aren't a doctor," he whispered to her, "you shouldn't be going on rounds."

"It's a learning experience," Gwen defended, "for my new series."

"Sure," Alex said. They went to their father's room, finding the room full. "What's going on here?"

"Alex and Gwen," Charlie exclaimed loudly. "We wondered when you two were planning on getting here." Charlie crossed the crowded room to hug the both of them. Gwen let the man hug her willingly enough but she could have sworn Alex thought that Charlie was going to try to kill him.

"You guys are here . . . early," Gwen commented, trying to remain cheerful.

"We left right after we got off the phone with you," Charlie commented. "You remember Stan Arrack, the lead singer, and Bob Adams, the bassist, right?"

"Sure," Gwen said.

"Let me just get Dr. Shepard," Alex said, hoping to grab the doctor before he got off shift. On second thought, maybe Bailey would be better equipped to handle this.

"What are you fools doing," Miranda Bailey asked from the doorway. "This man is sick and needs his rest. Everyone out!" Everyone filed out of the room, Alex and Gwen gratefully so.

"When will we be able to take him home, Doctor," Charlie asked.

Miranda looked at Alex and Gwen, both of which shrugged, and then back at the man with the question. "Who are you?"

"Charlie Stahler, Ma'm," Charlie said, extending his hand, "the best drummer in all of Iowa. We came here to take our guitarist back home."

After another quick look at the Karev kids, Miranda turned to Charlie Stahler. "You want to take Mr. Karev out of the hospital," she questioned. Charlie nodded, smiling. "He'll need medical care and treatment," Miranda said. "They'll be someone to take him to his appointments?" Several people nodded. "And he won't be able to be left alone, just in case, someone will be able to sit with him?" A few people nodded.

"Are you trying to scare us out of taking Eddie back home," Charlie asked the doctor.

"No, not at all, Mr. Stahler," Miranda said, "but you are undertaking a huge responsibility."

"We only want to take Eddie back home," Charlie explained. "We have everything set up. Stan's son-in-law is a doctor from the big city. We all know someone who is a nurse. We'll take care of him, Doc. We promise." Several people nodded.

Miranda sighed. "He has to get the okay from his oncologist and the Attending on call," she gave in, "and then you can take him. But only, and I mean only, if they are okay with it." Miranda glanced at Alex who nodded. "Alright, then," she said before walking away.

"I'm going to see Izzie before I take off," Gwen said to Alex, "are you coming?"

"Who's Izzie," Stan asked. They were all waiting for the nearly arrived Oncologist to get done checking on Eddie.

"Alex's girlfriend," Gwen answered before dancing out of his reach, smiling.

"Gwen," Alex growled warningly.

"Alex loves Izzie," Gwen sang, "Alex loves Izzie." The look on her brother's face changed and she took off down the hall.

"No running," Richard called out to them, smiling and shaking his head.

Gwen racked her brain, trying to remember where Izzie said she was spending her morning. _The clinic_, she thought and took off with a burst of speed.

"What? Hey," Alex yelled, still running after his sister. She took off to a stairwell. Alex followed her, jumping down the stairs. He saw her turn a corner as he made it out of the stairwell. "The clinic," he said to himself and took off again. Gwen was going to get it for that comment. Not that he was sure why he was chasing after her, because she was right, it probably had something to do with her tone. He pushed the doors open to the clinic, causing everyone to turn and look at him.

"Alex," Izzie scolded, "knock it off." She turned back to her patient with a smile. Alex stood there, patiently, as he looked around for his sister. "What has gotten into you," Izzie asked, sending one of her interns to get her patient a CT scan.

"I'm looking for Gwen."

"Is she hurt," Izzie asked, grabbing another chart. Alex shook her head. "Then quit running through the hospital like a crazy person," she said, kissing his cheek. "Check bed three," she whispered and walked off, calling out for the next patient.

A/N: I know that this was a weird place to end, but I thought it was cute anyway. I'm not going to have this story done by the end of the week. I have some new ideas that I want to incorporate instead of ending this one and starting a sequel. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Oh, and by the way, reviews are cool. LOL. _Megan_


	18. Chapter 18

_Chapter Eighteen_

Alex pulled the curtain back and Gwen took off running. Shaking his head, Alex took off after her, more discreetly this time. He found her in the lobby talking with Shepard, Sloan, and Hahn.

"Dr. Karev," Sloan greeted him. "Too bad you aren't working," he said, "I have a facial reconstruction scheduled for later today." Hahn rolled her eyes.

"Are you going to Gwen's interview," Derek asked him.

"I don't think so," Alex said, glaring at Gwen who was hiding behind the neurosurgeon. "You and Mer go, have fun."

"What are you doing," Derek whispered to Gwen.

"Hiding," she said. Derek smiled and shrugged at Alex, who started laughing.

"I'll _get_ you later, Gwen," Alex said. He nodded at the Attendings and left.

"What was that all about," Derek asked her as she moved to stand beside him.

"Just the two of us reliving some fond childhood memories," she laughed. "Are you almost done? I still have to talk to Joe about using his place for the interview."

"Let's go find Meredith, then," he smiled, holding out his arm. Gwen laughed again, linked her arm with Derek's, and the two of them went off to find his girlfriend.

"They're weird," Mark commented as he watched his best friend walk off with Karev's little sister.

"That they are," Erica Hahn agreed.

ALEXALEXALEX

Meredith and Gwen had waited in Lexie's room while Derek showered and changed. "I'm doing well," Lexie told them.

"I can come by after lunch and help you . . . you know, clean up," Meredith offered, biting her lip.

"I'll tell you about my new book," Gwen said.

Lexie laughed. "I'd like that. Thank you, really."

Derek walked in and picked up her chart. He smiled. "You're doing very well, Lexie," he said. "Your scans are clean, which is great, and you seem to be doing very well. I imagine if you gave it another day or two you could go home."

"That will be great," Lexie said, "as soon as I find one."

"You can stay at my house," Meredith said. "You know, until you find a place, or if you wanted to stay. Whichever."

"Thank you, Meredith," Lexie said, quietly. "I appreciate that."

"Okay, so we'll be by later," Gwen said. "You want us to bring you anything from Joe's?"

"A shot of tequila," she grinned.

"Not likely," Gwen smiled.

Meredith smiled, too, finding Lexie's statement amusing.

"Alright, let's go or we'll be late," Derek said, putting Lexie's chart back in the holder at the end of the bed. They three of them jumped in Derek's car and drove across the street. Joe met them at the door, having just unlocked it.

"It's a bit early to be diving into a tequila bottle, Meredith," Joe said, smiling.

"I have an interview," Gwen spoke up, "care if we claim a table or two for it?"

"Not at all," Joe said, "you guys hungry?" Derek ordered a salad and the girls both ordered chicken sandwiches. "So, how does this work," Joe asked, sitting with them since they were the only ones there.

"My agent should be here in about five minutes," Gwen said, checking her latest text message. "She's picking the interviewer up for the Archfield and then she'll be here." They talked for a while, Derek nearly dozing off from staying up all night. "Holly, over here," Gwen called out when two very confused looking women entered the bar. "Welcome to The Emerald City Bar," she stood up and greeted them, "or more commonly known as Joe's."

"Oh, kiddo, it's so good to see you," Holly said, hugging Gwen. "This is Tonya Savoy." Tonya and Gwen shook hands.

"These wonderful people are my friends," Gwen said, gesturing towards the others. "Please meet Dr. Derek Shepard, Dr. Meredith Grey, and Joe." Joe laughed. Everyone shook hands and then Holly and Tonya ordered – chicken sandwiches – causing Meredith and Gwen to pick on Derek for being odd man out.

"How is it that two of your closest friends are doctors," Tonya asked, before they started the interview.

"Meredith and my brother are roommates," Gwen explained, "we just let Derek tag along."

"Boy, you're really letting him have it," Joe commented, delivering the sandwiches.

"Only because Alex isn't here," Gwen said, taking a sip of hot chocolate.

"Okay," Tonya said, retrieving her notebook and pen from her briefcase. "This interview won't be printed until after the book is released. Ready?" Gwen nodded. "Your main character, Kaydence, got married in your last book, but in this book you've killed her husband off. Was there a reason for that?"

Gwen's eyes darkened. "It was a last minute edit," Gwen explained. "I was, uh, having a bad day."

Derek reached over and grabbed her hand. He wasn't sure which 'bad day' she was referring to, but she had seemed to have a lot of them since she came to Seattle. Had she really only been there for a week? Gwen smiled at him, gratefully, and Derek released her hand, taking Meredith's in his instead.

"My boyfriend and I recently parted ways and my father is very sick," Gwen said. "It just sort of happened." Holly nodded.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Tonya said. "Do you think the death of her husband will drastically change the way that Kaydence views the world and her magic?"

"It's a very drastic change in her usually stable world," Gwen conceded carefully, "I can't see how it wouldn't." Gwen took another sip from her mug. "Her magic is tied closely with her emotions and it's yet to be seen how exactly that will alter her magic permanently. She gets a tattoo, though."

"Who is she talking about," Derek whispered to Meredith. Meredith smiled.

"Kaydence is a witch whose magic has always been bound, although she didn't know it. She marries a werewolf and her magic breaks through the binding, which upsets her mother. She ends up working with the Supernatural Senate that rules over the supernatural world to keep everything hidden from the Mundanes," Joe spoke up.

"Joe," Gwen smiled, "I hadn't realized you were a fan."

"Walter got me into them," Joe admitted, "but I never realized you were Alex's sister." Gwen laughed. "I'm interested about the vampire though." Meredith laughed.

"I have to find time to read these books," Derek mumbled under his breath.

"You can borrow mine," Meredith said.

"Kaydence's family is very supportive," Tonya continued as she scribbled away on her notebook, "is that reflective of your own background?"

Gwen sighed. "I have a very supportive brother, as far as traditional family goes," Gwen answered, truthfully. "The family he's created here in Seattle has graciously accepted me into their ranks and I plan to stick around."

"Hence the move to Seattle," Tonya prompted.

Gwen nodded. "Exactly."

"Aw, sweetie," Joe said, pretending to wipe away a tear, "I didn't realize you cared so much." Gwen rolled her eyes as Joe cleared the plates from the table. "Are you able to take a shift tonight," Joe asked. "Walter wants me to get home to help with the boys at a descent hour."

"I can close tonight," Gwen offered.

"You work in a bar," Tonya asked, intrigued.

"Sure, why not," she said, "I have to do something while everyone is across the street saving lives."

"What?"

"My brother and his friends are all doctors across the street," Gwen replied, "they're these brilliant surgeons who save lives everyday and I write stories. It's enough to make anyone feel unworthy."

Meredith laughed. "Yes, but they're very good stories," she said. Gwen rolled her eyes good naturedly.

"Are you working on the next one yet," Tonya asked.

"No," Gwen shook her head. "I want to finish moving and take care of a few things before I dive in. Consider it a vacation." Tonya nodded, wrote a few more things down, and left with Holly, who said she'd call Gwen later.

"That was weird," Derek said. "Are you interviews always like that?"

"I don't do them very often," Gwen said, "but usually, I guess. Joe, I'll be back around six." Joe nodded as the three of them left – Meredith headed back to the hospital while Derek and Gwen went back to Mer's house. Derek automatically went up the stairs to the room he shared with Meredith while Gwen got her laptop out to start working on her new series.

ALEXALEXALEX

Thatcher Grey walked quietly through the halls. He knew that Lexie was around here somewhere, that ungrateful, treacherous bi-

"Thatcher," Richard Webber's deep voice half shouted, "what do you think you're doing here?" He marched purposely towards Ellis' ex-husband as he motioned for Nurse Debbie to call the police. Thatcher glared at him, causing Richard to lose it and slam him into the nearest wall. Richard got a nose full of alcohol fumes. "You should feel lucky that I don't lay your out right here and now, but I took an oath as a Healer."

"Yes, you're very good with oaths, aren't you Richard," Thatcher said, finding his voice. "You cheated on your wife with mine," he taunted. "I lost my family because of you."

"You got a new one," Richard said, pressing into the other man with his upper body, "and you've destroyed it."

"No," he gasped. "Lexie . . ."

"You aren't going anywhere near Lexie," Richard said. He heard commotion at the end of the hall, undoubtedly the police. "You leave Lexie alone," he said. "You should especially leave Meredith alone," he told him, "she's gone through enough." The police pulled Richard away from Thatcher, the man hardly able to stand up on his own and carried him off. Richard sighed.

Lexie Grey had essentially lost both parents and her half sister, Meredith, lost her father all over again.

ALEXALEXALEX

"So, Eddie is being transferred in the morning," Charlie told Alex, standing at the Nurse's Station near Edward Karev's room. "Don't be afraid to come visit him."

Alex nodded. He did not intend to ever go and visit his father. Gwen could if she wanted to, and he doubted it, but he wasn't bothering.

"I'll keep you updated," Charlie offered. "You really should visit though. Abby's done a hell of a job with that bar of hers." Alex nodded, showing he was listening. He was reviewing a patient's chart (not his patient) and was pretending to be thoroughly interested (bronchitis – why was the patient on the surgical floor?). "Alex," Charlie said, hoping to get the younger man's attention. "Your father was a lot of things . . . is a lot of things . . . but he loves you."

Alex slammed the chart shut, causing Olivia to jump before walking away quickly. "Let's get one thing straight," Alex said, fiercely, quietly. "He was never there when we needed him. He drug us out to bars where he played because it was convenient for him. I started taking care of my family at the age of seven, when I had to grown parents and a four year old little sister. If he _loved_ us he would have been there for us. We take care of ourselves, of each other, and we don't _need_ him."

"He needs you," Charlie replied quietly before walking off. "We'll be by in the morning."

Alex shook his head, put the chart back, and went across the street to Joe's for a drink.

A/N: I'm really sorry that this took so long. Writer's block, you know? It's a bi-otch. Anyway, I hope this chapter is in some way satisfying and I'll try to work on the next chapter (hopefully moving the story along in the process) soon. Reviews are appreciated an encouraged. They are a heck of a motivator. Megan


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

_Chapter Nineteen_

Alex slid on a stool. Gwen put a bottle of beer down in front of him before he even asked. He nodded his thanks.

"Everything okay," she asked, leaning against the bar. The place wasn't exactly hopping.

"Dad leaves in the morning," Alex said. Gwen motioned for him to continue. "And Charlie wanted to make sure that we visit Dad once he got to Iowa." Gwen scowled. "I know."

"There's something else," she said, sensing he was holding back. It was Alex; he was always holding something back.

"I told Charlie off," Alex said, taking a swig of beer. Gwen smiled. "And Charlie told me Dad needs us."

"And?"

"That was it."

"It happens," Gwen said, her smile returning. "When can you go back to work?"

"Day after tomorrow," Alex said. He had tracked Bailey down earlier after arrangements for his father's transfer had been made.

"So, I was thinking. I've been in Seattle for just over a week now and I haven't done any of the normal tourist things," Gwen said. "We should go." Alex laughed. "I want to go to the Space Needle," she insisted, "and I don't want to go by myself."

"I don't think I've made it there either," he confessed. Gwen rolled her eyes as the guy at the end of the bar yelled his order for a couple drafts. Gwen moved down the bar to fill the order as Meredith sat down on the stool beside Alex. "What's wrong with you," he asked, catching the look on her face.

"I'm fine," she said. Alex just looked at her. "Lexie has an infection," she confessed, "and the police arrested Thatcher earlier today."

"Good," Alex said, "the man deserves to be in jail." Mer nodded. "What kind of infection?"

"Nothing too serious," she said, "Bailey's keeping her for observation for a couple of extra days. She should be fine, though. Molly, Lexie's sister, will be in town tomorrow."

"There you go," Alex said, "the thing that's bothering you the most." She shook her head. "Yes, it is," he laughed.

"Don't laugh at me Alex," she said, "seriously, that's like the last thing I need." He shrugged, taking another gulp of beer. "She's going to hate me," Meredith said, covering her face with her hands. "I killed her mother and my fake father put her father in jail."

Alex laughed. "I thought we went over this. You did _not_ kill Susan. It isn't your fault . . . and the Chief didn't actually put Thatcher in jail," Alex pointed out, "he just held him down until the police got there. And as far as the Chief being your 'fake father,' well, it's nice you're letting people be there for you."

"You're one to talk," Meredith countered. Alex shrugged. 

"Gwen and I are doing cheesy tourist things tomorrow," Alex said, grinning, "wanna join us?"

"No thanks," Meredith said. "Can I have a shot of tequila?"

Gwen smiled, poured the drink, and passed it over. "You should really pick something more creative to drink," Gwen said, "I get so bored pouring the same six drinks. I'll have to talk to Joe about having a weekly special or something – a different drink every week."

"That's an idea," Meredith said. "What did you have in mind?"

"I did tequila sunrises the other day," Gwen said, biting her bottom lip. "I'll have to think this over."

"Is Izzie home," Alex asked.

Meredith shook her head. "She's still at the hospital."

"I think I'm going to go see her," Alex said, finish his beer. He passed some money across the bar.

"My treat," Gwen said, pushing the money back. "Another shot," she asked Meredith as Alex walked out the door. "I see I'll be calling Derek to come get you tonight. . ."

ALEXALEXALEX

Alex found Izzie in the hallway, on a gurney, reading over a text book. "Hey," he said, sitting beside her, passing her a cup of tea.

"Hey," she said, smiling as she accepted it. "How are you?" Alex shrugged. "Alex," she said, a warning tone in her voice.

"We'll talk about me later," he offered, "how are you doing?"

She shrugged. "As well as to be expected, I suppose," she said. "My interns are horrible," she whispered, "at least we were smart."

"Give them time," Alex said, chuckling.

"Humph," she said. She sipped her tea. "Are you okay?" Alex shrugged. Izzie couldn't help but think that he was infuriating when he was like this. "Alex, talk to me," Izzie said, "this won't work if you don't talk."

Alex started talking about the current situation with his Dad and Charlie taking him away.

"Everything will be okay," Izzie said, putting her hand on his arm. She smiled at him. "This can go one of two ways," she said. "One, he goes to Iowa and you never see him again. Two, he goes to Iowa and you go to visit him and keep in touch." Alex sighed. "You'll do the right thing."

"And how do you know that," he asked. She just smiled and shook her head as her pager went off. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Izzie," he called out as she walked off, "how do you know that?"

"See you at home," she said before turning the corner. 

Alex sighed and fell over on the gurney. 

ALEXALEXALEX

Alex was pretty darn happy. His father had left two weeks ago to go back to Iowa with his old band. The New Year had passed and everyone was mostly happy. Gwen had left yesterday to settle some things in Chicago. Molly, Lexie's sister, was still in town helping out. They were both staying at an Aunt's house while Lexie got better.

It was a rare night that Alex and Izzie got the house to themselves. Nearly everyone else was working or planning on spending the night somewhere else. 

Alex had every intention for the two of them to spend some quality time together. 

"Alex," Izzie called from the kitchen. Alex walked in, finding Izzie finishing frosting a cake. "Try this," she said, cutting a piece from the cake and passing it to him. It was a chocolate cake with white chocolate frosting that was sprinkled with milk chocolate chips. 

"Wow," Alex said, with his mouth full. Izzie smiled. "Taste," he said, stabbing the cake and holding it in front of her. She smiled at him before she leaned forward and slid the cake into her mouth, holding Alex's arm with one of her hands to keep it steady. "Good, right," he questioned as if _he_ had been the one to make it.

"Amazing," she said. Without a second thought, she slid her arms around his neck and pulled him to her, causing Alex to drop the fork in his hand. She giggled as it clattered to the floor and then covered his mouth with hers. They fumbled around the kitchen for a few minutes before making it to the living room and falling back on the couch. Their hands and lips roamed over one another as they remembered back on the times they had before, but this was so much better. There was no one else – not for either one of them – and they had all the time in the world.

"No, no," Alex said, as Izzie tried to take off his shirt, "bed. We should be in bed."

"Okay," Izzie said, pulling him up and then pulling his shirt over his head and flinging it across the room. "Much better," she said and then kissed him again. They stumbled up the stairs, barely making it without injury, and fell back on Izzie's bed, barely kicking the door closed behind them – just in case. 

Alex couldn't think of a better way to spend an evening.

A/N: I don't think I actually like this chapter, but for the people that had been waiting for some Izzie/Alex finally got some. I didn't think it was a good place for some smut – maybe later – but I'm not always real good at writing that. Anyway, let me know what you think – because it's helpful – and if anyone has a request, well, I can try to work that in, too. 


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

_Chapter Twenty_

"Your shift ends at six, right," Alex questioned the next morning as they both got dressed in the Resident's Locker room. Meredith and Cristina sat at the other end of the bench, complaining about their interns.

"Yes," Izzie said, slipping her pink stethoscope around her neck. "Why?"

Alex smiled, pulling an apple from his locker. "No reason," he said, taking a bite.

Izzie narrowed her eyes at him. "Seriously? You aren't going to tell me?" Alex shook his head.

"C'mon, rounds," he said. Izzie sighed and followed him out of the locker room, Meredith and Cristina behind them.

"Ah," Derek said, walking up to them, "Dr. Grey, you're on my service today." He handed her a chart. Meredith smiled.

"Gag me," Cristina whispered to Izzie. Derek narrowed his eyes at her but then smiled when he turned back to Meredith.

"_Anyway_," he said, pointedly, "Gwen called me this morning."

"Oh, yeah, how is she doing," Alex asked since he hadn't heard from her since she left.

"Well," he responded, "she just needed some clarification for her writing." Alex smiled.

"What are you people standing here for," Bailey questioned, walking past them. "Get to work. Now!" The group smiled at each other before going their separate ways for rounds.

"Dr. Sloan," Alex called out as he came upon the plastic surgeon at a Nurse's Station, "I'm on your service today."

"I know," he said, "I requested you. I have the other Grey here today for a post-op check-up. Her appointed is for ten. Shep's going to do his exam at the same time. I need you to round on the rest of my patients. The man in 2018 needs his bandages changed every six hours. The woman in 3210 needs her pre-op and morning labs ran. She's scheduled for a tummy tuck this afternoon. We're needed for a consult today, one of Dr. Hahn's patients. I'll page you when we're needed. Think you can handle that?"

"Of course," Alex said, picking up his charts.

"Then get to work," Sloan said, "and get one of your interns to get me coffee!" Alex shook his head as he walked off to gather his interns. He told one of them to get Sloan his extra-dry cappuccino and then to catch up on rounds.

Ten o'clock was upon him before he knew it. He walked into the exam room, two of his interns trailing him, to find Lexie and her sister, Molly, waiting. "Make yourselves scarce," he said, pushing them out of the room and closing the door behind him. They didn't need to see one of their fellow interns like this. "Lexie," Alex greeted. They hadn't talked very much since Alex had brought her to the hospital.

"Alex," she responded. "Can we wait for Meredith? She wanted to be here." Alex nodded and started doing the preliminary exam until Sloan got there. Meredith and Sloan arrived at the same time.

"Well, Dr. Grey, you're certainly doing better," Sloan said. "After some of these wounds heal up some more, I'd like to go in and remove the scars. That is, unless, you want to keep them."

Lexie laughed. "No, definitely not." She turned to Meredith. "Molly and I have to go see the lawyer after this. I know that you're on shift, but could you come with us?"

Meredith nodded. "I'll go talk to Bailey as soon as we're done here," she said, holding her sister's hand. "How's Laura," she asked Molly.

Molly smiled. "She's doing great, thanks for asking."

Derek walked. "Good morning, Lexie." Derek looked at everyone. "You seem to have quite the support group," Derek said, his gaze lingering on Meredith, who blushed. He took Lexie through her neuro tests. "Everything seems to be doing well. I want to get another CT scan in a couple of days, just to check up on everything. You'll have someone to bring you and take you home, right, Lexie? I don't want you driving yet." Lexie looked to Molly.

"Actually, I have to get back home tomorrow," Molly said, "I'm starting a new job."

"If you can wait until Thursday, I have the day off," Meredith offered. Lexie smiled appreciatively. "I'm going to go find Bailey," she said, "I'll be back in a little bit." Meredith left.

"Seattle Grace is really rough on interns," Alex said, out of the blue.

Mark and Derek laughed. "Yes, well, not nearly as bad on a professional level as we were with Emma," Mark said.

"Oh, why is that," Lexie asked.

"She didn't assist on a surgery for the first three months. Everyone was afraid they would be showing her favoritism. It's why she ending up in Cardio," Derek replied.

"The Chief of Surgery, Travers, was the first one to let her assist," Mark said. "She would have made a brilliant plastic surgeon."

"I think you mean neurosurgeon," Derek said, helping Lexie off the exam table.

"No, I'm pretty sure I meant Plastic," Mark said, smirking.

Alex shook his head at their playful banter, unsure when he had become so comfortable around either Attending. He remembered a time when he was constantly pissed at both of them because they were hurting people he cared about.

There was a knock on the door and Richard Webber walked in. "Ah, Dr. Grey, how are you?"

"Fine, Chief," she said, looking to Shepard and Sloan for confirmation. They both nodded.

"Well, that's great," he said, genuinely. "Dr. Karev, you have a phone call. It seems rather urgent." Alex excused himself and followed the Chief to his office. "It seemed rather personal," the Chief explained, "I thought maybe you'd like some privacy."

"Who is it," Alex asked.

"Line 2, Dr. Karev," the Chief said before closing the door, leaving Alex alone in his office.

Alex settled down at the Chief's desk, feeling awkward about the whole thing. He picked up the receiver and pressed the button for line two. "Karev," he said.

"Hey, it's the other Karev," Gwen's voice said, coming in loudly over a lot of background noise.

"Gwennie? Where are you?"

"The airport," she said, "I'm heading to Iowa."

A bad feeling washed over him. "Gwennie, why are you heading to Iowa," he asked, not really wanting to know. At least he didn't think he wanted to know.

"Dad passed," she said. "I'm on the phone here," she yelled, "back off." There was a pause. "You still there, Alex?"

"Yeah, I'm . . . here . . . are you sure?"

"Well, I haven't seen him, but Stan's son-in-law says he is," Gwen said, sarcastically. Alex nodded, although she couldn't see that. "Listen, I know you don't tend to go to these things," she continued, "and I don't expect this one to be any different. I just wanted to let you know so you could make the decision yourself."

"I don't . . . no, I don't think I want to be there," Alex said after a while. "Are _you_ sure you want to go," he asked. He could see her standing there at a pay phone, shrugging. "Gwennie?"

She sighed. "I guess I just want to make sure," she said. "It just doesn't seem real . . . seem possible."

"Gwen, I have to go," he said. "Call me when you land." He hung up. He didn't know what to say to his sister. He pulled his pager off of his waistband, dialed Izzie, and sat back in the chair with a sigh, waiting for her to show up.

"Alex," Izzie said, opening the door, "why are we in the Chief's office?"

"My old man died," he said, still sitting in the Chief's chair. "I don't go to funerals, but Gwen is going . . ."

"Do you," Izzie said, cautiously, "do you want me to go with you?"

Alex looked at her, shocked. Izzie had said she had wanted him to talk to her more, so he had paged her here to talk it out. He shouldn't have been surprised by her offer. She was Izzie after all. "You would want to go?"

Izzie shrugged. "If you want me to . . . or if Gwen does."

Alex nodded, silently making plans in his head. He'd have to talk to Bailey and the Chief. "Okay," he said, "I'll talk to you about it later." Izzie nodded and left the office. Alex grabbed his pager and left.

"Dr. Karev," the Chief said, standing on the other side of the door. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," he answered. "Listen, can I talk to you?"

**A/N: A short chapter, but filled with information. Lexie has no permanent damage, which is good. And Alex ends the chapter battling some intense emotions. What did you think? Reviews are better than cookies . . .lol.**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

It didn't take long to get from the airport back home. Alex and Izzie had been gone for three days and when they returned to Seattle, they brought Gwen with them. The ride home was silent. Izzie had been overly quiet the whole trip but that was nothing compared to Alex's behavior. He had been . . . nice. Well, mostly.

The most surprising part of the trip had been their mother. Not only had she recognized them, which was enough to freak them both out, but she had rushed over and _hugged_ them. She had read all of Gwen's books and she knew that Alex was a doctor. "Oh, a _doctor_," she had gushed, "I'm just so proud." She had even arranged, with Izzie, to come and visit everyone in Seattle. "Gwen is moving to be closer to her brother," she had exclaimed, "how _sweet_."

Meredith was getting home the same time they were. "Hey," she said, quietly, "how did it go?"

Alex shrugged.

"It was . . . different," Gwen explained. Meredith nodded.

"I was talking to Joe yesterday," she said. "Since we couldn't go to the funeral with you guys, he thought we could have some sort of thing at the bar. Nothing downtrodden or anything, but just something to remember him by. We don't have to," she continued, "but he offered."

"That could be fun," Alex said, smiling. "Remember when Dad used to go play at the bars," Alex asked, "we could do something similar."

"Only if you sing again," Gwen said, returning the smile. With that idea lodged into their heads, everyone went to sleep.

ALEXALEXALEX

The "thing" at the bar ended up being a hospital wide party at Joe's. Not that Joe minded; he seemed to be having fun. The cover band was set up on the makeshift stage and doing old '80's covers until the "thing" really got started. People brought covered dishes and Izzie had gone on a two-day baking spree to make sure there was enough food to go around.

"You two get up there," Joe said, shooing them away from the bar, "this is for you. Go grieve."

Alex and Gwen jumped on stage as the band finished the end of a song. Alex gestured for her to take the microphone. "Okay, so this is awkward," she said, causing the crowd gathered to laugh. "So, tonight is about good music and . . . well, family. Alex and I recently . . . I guess they say we 'lost' our father. Anyway, he was a musician, so expect a lot of old, crappy rock music. So, I'm making my brother sing now. Let's hear it for _Doctor _Alex Karev!"

"No way, Gwennie," Alex said, into the microphone, "if I have to sing, then so do you." She smiled at him, shaking her head. "Uh, huh," Alex said in a sing-song voice. "C'mon, Gwennie, you know you want to," he said, facing her. "Sing with me, Gwennie."

"Fine," she said, picking up a second microphone. "What are we going to sing?"

"I know the perfect song," Alex said, smiling. He turned to the band and whispered to the lead guitarist. The guitarist smiled in turn and said something to the rest of the band, who smiled and began to play. Alex turned to Gwen and sang:

_It was the third of September._

_That day I'll always remember, yes, I will._

'_Cause that was the day that my daddy died._

Gwen shook her head and picked up the rest of the verse.

_I never got a chance to see him_

_Never heard nothing but bad things about him._

_Mama, I'm depending on you to tell _us _the truth._

Alex laughed and pulled Meredith, who had been sitting closest, onto the stage.

_And Mama just hung her head and said. . ._

He stuck the mic in her face.

"_Son, Papa was a rolling stone._

_Wherever he laid his hat was his home."_

Alex and Gwen stood behind Meredith and interceded:

_. . . And when he died . . ._

Meredith, despite her overwhelming uncertainty, continued to sing.

"_All he left us was alone._

_Papa was a rolling stone, my son._

_Wherever he laid his hat was him home. . ."_

Alex watched as a woman came in the bar, her hand resting on the shoulder of a young boy, about ten years old. The woman and boy walked straight over to the bar where the woman waved Joe over. They conversed for a few minutes, Joe sending worried glances towards the stage.

_Well, well._

_Hey, Mama, is it true what they say,_

_That Papa never worked a day in is life?  
And Mama, some bad talk going around town_

_Saying that Papa had three outside children and another wife._

_And that ain't right._

_Hey, talk about Papa doing some store front preaching._

_Talked about saving souls and all the time leeching._

_Dealing in debt and stealing in the name of the Lord._

_Mama just hung her head and said. . ._

Alex watched Joe walk to the other end of the bar where Izzie and George were sitting. Joe talked to Izzie, both of them looking at the stage as Alex, Gwen, and Meredith continued to sing.

_Hey, Mama, I heard Papa called himself a jack of all trades._

_Tell me is that what sent Papa to an early grave?  
Folks say Papa would beg, borrow, steal to pay his bills._

_Hey, Mama, folks say that Papa was never much on thinking._

_Spent most of his time chasing women and drinking._

_Mama, I'm depending on you to tell _us _the truth._

_And Mama looked up with a tear in her eye and said . . ._

Alex jumped off the stage, passing the microphone to Nurse Tyler as he went by. Izzie was arguing with Joe, which never happened.

"What's going on," he asked, wrapping Izzie in a hug. She was upset about whatever it is.

Joe pointed to the other end of the bar. "That woman wants to talk to Edward Karev's kids. I told her that you were busy," Joe said, "she's planning on waiting around."

Alex looked towards stage where Gwen, Meredith, and Tyler were trying to sing "Old Time Rock 'n Roll." Gwen would be busy for a while. He pulled Izzie up from her stool. "What does she want?"

"I don't know," Joe replied, "she didn't say. Use my office." Izzie and Alex went behind the bar to the back room while Joe walked off. Alex opened the door to the small office and followed Izzie in, leaving the door cracked open behind them.

"What upset you so badly," Alex asked. He hated seeing Izzie so upset.

"We'll talk about it later," she said as Joe walked in with the woman and little boy.

"Alex, Izzie, this is Angela Addy and her son, Brian," Joe said. "Angela, this is Dr. Alex Karev and Dr. Izzie Stevens."

"Where's the other one," Angela asked, looking around.

"On stage," Alex replied, assuming she meant Gwen. "What exactly is it that we can help you with," Alex asked as Joe left the small room, taking the boy with him.

Angela studied Alex for a few moments. "He knew that you were going to Med School," she said, throwing him off. "He was so proud." She smiled at him. What in the world was this woman going on about? "We lived together for a long time, until the cancer got real bad. We had Brian together. Edward was a great father. He used to talk about Gwen all the time, too. I've read her books, they're wonderful." Alex nodded, listening her but not hearing her. Everything after 'We had Brian together. . .' fell on deaf ears. This woman had a child by his father. Edward Karev had _another_ son?

"What do you want," Alex found himself saying.

"I'm sick," the woman – Angela – said. "I want Brian to know his siblings, to have family. I won't be around much longer, I imagine. I have a kidney disease. Brian will probably be put into foster care. I just wanted him to know that he had family out there. I'm not sure why. I don't expect you to take him in or anything like that. It's just . . . no one should feel alone."

"How old is your son," Izzie asked, smiling gently at Angela.

"Ten."

The door sprang open. "Alex, you just left. What the Hell?" Gwen stood in the doorway, hands on hips. "What's going on in here?"

"This is Angela Addy," Izzie said.

"She the mother of Dad's other son," Alex said with no emotion on his face.

"Other son," Gwen questioned. "Dad had another kid?"

"Apparently," Alex said, dryly. "One of us should get back to this . . . thing." Alex stood up and left the room. Gwen looked at him.

"Is he okay," Angela asked.

Gwen sat down in Alex's vacated chair. "I'm sure he will be," she replied with a smile. "Now, what's going on here?"

A/N: Shonda doesn't do funerals, so I won't either. Funerals are sad and I didn't really want to go into detail. Except for their Mom, not a lot happened, anyway. So, yeah, review if you can. The really do help move writers along. :)


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: I know, I know, I know, I have been woefully neglectful of this story. I just couldn't seem to get the story to move forward. So, I want to take this space to thank Shonda because the season finale gave me inspiration (and a little bit of material to work with) and hope for Alex and Izzie. Thanks!

_Chapter Twenty-Two_

The next morning, Alex banged on the door to his old room. He heard rustling sounds and voices. Voices? Without waiting for consent, Alex opened the door to find his sister in bed with . . . Nurse Tyler?

"What the hell is going on in here," he demanded, standing in the doorway, his hand still resting on the doorknob.

"C'mon, Alex, it's still early," Gwen complained. She was lying on her stomach in the bed with Nurse Tyler's arm around her waist, pulling her close to him. "Aren't you hung-over? How are you up?"

Alex made a noise that could be considered growling.

Gwen scoffed. "Go make coffee, Alex, I'll be down in a minute," she said, making no move to get up. "Izzie wouldn't give us so much grief," she muttered when Alex left.

Tyler chuckled. "Izzie isn't your brother," he said, kissing the top of her head. "I should go."

"No," she whined, "don't. Stay with me."

"I have to work today."

Gwen turned over to look up at him. "I'm starting to hate the hospital," she pouted, playfully.

"I have an idea," he said, smiling, "meet me for lunch in the cafeteria." She bit her lip and put on a good show of thinking it over. "C'mon," he prompted.

"Fine," she said, "I'm working the evening shift at Joe's."

He smiled again. "I'll be over when my shift is done. C'mon, let's get dressed before Karev comes to check on us." Gwen laughed.

ALEXALEXALEXALEX

Alex was having a horrible morning. He had woken up, blissfully forgetful, until the night before had come crashing down on him.

His father had had another family.

He hadn't been sure if the thought made him angry or sad or both. His wife, or whatever she was, was sick – some kind of kidney disease, she said. He didn't know much more than that, because he had went back into the bar where he got trashed quickly. Izzie had taken him home, needing Shepard's and Sloan's help just getting him in the car. It was likely Mer and Shepard followed them home because he was pretty sure that Shepard was instrumental in getting him up the stairs.

Then he had gone to talk to Gwen about last night. Izzie refused to tell him what she found out, saying that he needed to talk to Gwen about it. His sister had been in bed with Nurse Tyler, which made him want to vomit. He didn't have anything against Tyler, but he didn't like the idea . . . ick. Never mind. It was best not to think about it. He'd talk to Gwen later. He hurried Izzie along so they could get to the hospital . . .

. . . where his day got worse.

There was extra work to be done because Seattle Grace would be hosting the Cardio Convention starting Monday, and it was already Saturday. The Chief was barking orders and criticizing every little thing. He was on Hahn's service (which meant Yang was ragging on him) and Hahn wasn't being especially warm or fuzzy.

"Karev, I want you to double check my post-ops and get your interns going on my pre-ops. I have a transplant and two valve replacements scheduled for today," Hahn snarled, "get going. I need you to be on your toes today."

To make it worse, he had run into Nurse Tyler at least two dozen times and hadn't seen Izzie once and it wasn't even time for lunch yet.

"Hey."

He turned to find his little sister standing there. He turned back around and went back to updating the charts he had been working on.

"Alex," she said. "I know you saw me," she sighed, "you looked right at me. I want to talk to you and I think you want to talk to me, too." He ignored her. Rolling her eyes, she tapped his shoulder. "Is this about Tyler," she asked, "because that's just silly."

"Not everything is about you, Gwen," Alex snapped. "And, yeah, I'm a little pissed to open the door to _my_ room and find you naked with a guy I have to see everyday at the hospital. It would have been nice to have some notice."

"It just happened, Alex," she told him. "He was at the bar last night and we were singing and drinking and . . . it's not that big of a deal. Tyler is a nice guy."

"Yeah, but it was just a few months ago that you were almost engaged to a guy and now your doing another."

"Hey, Nikkos was planning on leaving _me_," she said, irritated. "He's of no consequence to me. He made his decision and I'm moving on with my life, Alex."

"Yeah, well, I've never pegged you for the kind of girl that goes whoring around," he said, "and no more sex in my room." He stalked off.

"Fine," she called after him, "I'll go grab my stuff and you can have _your_ room back. Enjoy!"

"No you aren't," Derek said, coming around the corner with Tyler.

"Really," Gwen asked, snapping at him with her hands on her hips, "and you're going to stop me?"

"I think Meredith might be offended if you took off like that," he told her. "I like having you around myself."

"I'm sorry," Tyler said.

"Don't be," she said, reaching up on her toes to kiss his cheek, calming down a little bit. "Alex and I were due for a fight. We are siblings, you know, and as I understand it that's supposed to come with the territory."

"Don't I know it," Derek laughed. "Still, he shouldn't have said that."

"I've been called worse," she shrugged. "You've been keeping in touch with those sisters of yours?"

"Yes," he told her, "in fact, Emma will be here for the conference next week."

"What conference?"

"The Cardio Conference," Tyler told her, "it starts on Monday."

"Shit," Emma said. "I'll have to take a rain check for lunch, but we'll try again for another day." She was halfway down the hall before Derek asked where she was going. "To the store," she called back, "I need a baseball bat!"

"Who for," Derek shouted.

"Take your pick," she yelled back and then disappeared around the corner. Derek and Tyler shrugged at each other and then parted ways. Derek had to have a little talk with Dr. Karev.

ALEXALEXALEX

Despite his better judgment, Alex went to Joe's after his shift was over. If the morning had been bad, well, he didn't have words for the evening. And after Shepard cornered him . . . well it had been an overall bad day. Joe was behind the bar. "Usual?"

"Something stronger," he muttered.

Joe nodded and poured him some whiskey. "Gwen seems upset today," he said, off-handedly. "Know anything about that?"

"No."

Joe shrugged and went to the other end of the bar. He didn't want to bring up the night before because he had no idea what one of his favorite customer was thinking. He found Gwen on the stage and nodded to her. She glanced over at her brother and then nodded back at Joe.

She finished talking to the band and went up to the bar. "Are you sure it's a good idea to be here tonight," she asked him, sliding onto the stool beside him, "I might be all whorish tonight."

Alex cringed. "Sorry, I'm just . . ."

"Having a bad day," she questioned. "That's a familiar excuse." The bell over the door rang and Tyler walked in, smiling at her. "I've got to go. We'll talk about the kid later. You know, when you're _not_ having a bad day." Gwen smiled at the Nurse and went to find a table with him. Joe was sticking around for another hour so she had time until she had to tend bar.

Alex, however, couldn't keep his sister's words out of his head. It had been his Dad's go-to excuse after he sobered up. Mom had always believed him, especially when it followed with the words, "It'll never happen again." But it always did, until Alex had taken matters into his own hands and gone after his Dad. He set his drink down. He wouldn't become his Dad. Never.

A/N: I want to thank you guys for sticking with me. I really appreciate it. Reviews are encouraged!!

P.S. – If anyone has suggestions, P.M. me.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

_Chapter Twenty-Three_

Alex was still up when Gwen made it through the door. She was exhausted it and her left arm was throbbing. Mark Sloan had helped her toss out an asshole that had gotten a little grabby.

"What's wrong," she asked.

"Izzie's upstairs," he told her. "I wanted to talk to you." She nodded and dropped her bag on the floor, taking a seat across from him at the table. "I'm sorry," he said, getting up and making a cold compress. "I had no right to take that out on you and I don't have anything against Tyler." She nodded, taking a muffin from the basket in the middle of the table with her good arm as Alex pressed the ice against the red mark on her left arm. "So, uh, tell me what happened the other night . . . with the kid."

Gwen rolled her eyes, glad that he didn't want to talk about her injury. "His name is Brian. He's ten. By all accounts, I suppose he'd be considered a good kid. This Angela Addy woman didn't have a lot of proof except for some pictures of the kid with Dad a few years back. Dad left them two years ago and got sick shortly after – not with cancer, she claims, but he was sick." She shrugged. "I'm not sure if he left because he found out he was sick or for some other reason. She didn't elaborate." She tore off a piece of muffing and popped it in her mouth. "Apparently, no matter what happens to her, she wants him to be able to . . . I don't know, have someone to talk to I guess." He nodded. "What are you thinking?"

Alex sighed, sitting down beside her. "I honestly don't know." He still wasn't able to really wrap his head around the whole thing.

"Izzie . . ." Gwen said, hesitantly.

"What about her?"

"Izzie suggested that if this Angela woman gets better, then you and I don't have to worry about this kid," she shrugged. "I don't know much about medicine so you'd have to tell me."

"C'mon, you know more about medicine that you let on. Hell, I probably wouldn't have graduated college or med school without your help on my papers and I definitely wouldn't have gotten into the program."

Gwen laughed. "That was one of my better exaggerations," she said, having written his letter to the Chief of Surgery for admittance into the surgery program.

Alex snorted. "It was an out right lie."

"I'm sorry about this morning," she said after they had both been silent for a while. "I don't officially live here so I should be more respectful."

"Look, you can sleep with whoever you want," he told her, "it's just . . . I didn't expect . . . don't worry about it, I overreacted. Plus, I'd rather not walk in on you naked again."

"You couldn't see anything," she defended.

Alex took a muffin from the basket, too. "So, uh, this convention thing starts on Monday."

Gwen groaned. "I know," she said, "and Hahn mentioned most of the Cardio surgeons will be stopping in at Joe's because we're across the street. I really don't want to see _him_."

"If it makes you feel better, Yang is prepared to castrate Burke."

"The guy that left her at the alter? He's coming?"

"Hahn says he registered," Alex shrugged. "Hahn isn't exactly jumping up and down about it either." Gwen shook her head. "Listen, I know I'm an ass. I know that you're used to it, too. But I wanted to say that I'm . . ."

"Stop. I know you're sorry and I don't need to hear it. We'll try to be more considerate of each other and maybe I will find a place of my own. Although you guys aren't home often anyway, so we'll see."

Alex smiled at his sister. "See you in the morning," he said, dropping a kiss on her forehead. She nodded and watched him leave. She didn't like fighting with Alex but sometimes they just bumped heads. They were both stubborn and proud and it didn't always work out without one or the other wanting to throttle someone. She grabbed another muffin and leaned back in her seat.

Meanwhile, Alex made his way up the stairs to the Izzie's room. He had practically moved in after Gwen showed up but it was weird considering it "their" room. Izzie was half-awake and waiting for him. "Did you talk to your sister," Izzie asked, sleepily.

"I did," he nodded, changing into his pajamas and crawling into the bed beside her. "We're all good."

"Good."

Author's Note: Alright, so my Muse has abandoned me, which is why there hasn't been an update for this or Victory Champagne. If anyone has ANY suggestions, please don't hesitate to PM me. I'm so looking forward to new episodes in the fall, but until then, we'll have to muddle through with fanfiction. Megan XOXO


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